The Puppet Master's Game
by LeggoMyGreggo411
Summary: When Nick and Greg investigate a possible 427, the tables get turned when one of them is kidnapped. With their life trapped by the ruthless hold of a sadistic madman, a methodical plot unfolds when the motive behind this torturous crime of passion is discovered and leaves the CSI's lost in a turmoil of emotions and doubting if they'll be able to save their friend in time.
1. Part 1: Just One More Case

**Authors Notes:** So this is my first fanfic ever, and seeming that CSI Las Vegas is my favorite TV show, it's only fitting that I choose to write a fic for CSI. I really hope you guys like it a please leave comments. As I am sure all you writers out there know and love the feeling of receiving comments on your story, well I want to know that feeling too :) Also, feel free to ask questions if you want to.

So yeah, I hope you guys enjoy.

**Summary:** A CSI is unexpectedly kidnapped and the team desperately tries to find him. Will there be ransom for his return, or is it all just a sick act with false hopes that will leave the CSI's lost in helplessness.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The credit behind the creation belong to, Anthony Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Jerry Bruckheimer, and anyone else who was involved in the creation of this show and its characters. So please don't sue me.

**Main Characters:** Greg Sanders, Nick Stokes, and Catherine Willows

**Notes:** Also, a few times I will be using codes, and they are accurate. 419: Dead Body, 420: Homicide, 426: Rape, 427: Kidnap

This also takes place during December of Season 10… So before Appendicitement (10x9).

* * *

**Chapter 1: Just One More Case**

His alarm had gone off for what seemed like the 20th time that morning. After the blaring sound of his radio pulling him out of his deep slumber, the fallowing action resulted in his heavy hand landing on the snooze button. It had been almost 5 weeks since Greg Sanders had had a day off from work, and it was really starting to take its toll on him. The thought of a long day in a bleak office with countless coffee breaks and slow moving evidence due to the lab-rat's backlogs, it all was just making him dread having to get up to go work that much further.

There was one thought that was floating around in his conscience though, and that was the promise of 3 days off after he solved his next case. Just the thought of getting to sleep for as long as he desired, it was ironically the motivation that let him finally get up and out of his warm bed.

Greg stood up and ran his fingers through his short and messy hair, and made his way over to the bathroom. He turned on the water and got into the shower; the first step that was part of his habitual morning routine. Once he was done, he grabbed one of his towels off the rack and quickly ran it through his hair before wrapping it around his waist.

The next step was to brush his teeth, and as he walked over to the mirror and wiped away the steam that hid his reflection. Finally seeing his face though, he felt like he couldn't fully recognize him self. Even though he felt like he got fairly restful four hours of sleep, the dark circles from the night before were still visible. There was also stubble starting to appear around his chin and jaw as well, and he realized that he hadn't shaved in a few days; his once very clean cut look was starting to fall apart. But still keeping his professionalism in mind, he grabbed his razor and quickly cleaned up his scruffy face.

While cleaning up his appearance, Greg started to think back to the case that he and Nick had just been working on for the past two weeks. It was the case from hell. Volatile suspects and witnesses, a mess of different stories and accusations, scattered evidence and compromised crime scenes; it was a hot case with cold leads. And to top it off, someone that they later found out was connected to the crime, completely trashed his Denali. His windows were broken, his tires were slashed, and they even keyed his car. Being an optimist though, he was at least thankful that insurance covered the damages, and he also didn't have to use up his money and gas to get to work. Because he didn't have a car, Nick had offered to pick him up and take him to work till he got his car back.

Thinking about the case that he and Nick had thankfully just finished, his optimism had started to die. Greg was happy that they had just finished The Case From Hell, as he and Nick called it, but he was then considering if when he went to work today, and if he got another case like this one. Another week, or even another day, having a case like the one he just had, he felt as if his sanity would finally be over taken and he would be on the verge of quitting his job. If the case presented its self, he would he willing to fall to his knees and beg for the case that offered the benefits of slow and easy. He could just imagine the simplicity of the case in his brain; the typical DB, a 420, fingerprints and DNA coating the scene, everything already in AFIS and CODIS, and a suspect without an alibi to top it all off. Wouldn't that be the case to smoothly lead into his 3 days off?

His thoughts were then interrupted by his phone chirping, and as he picked it up, he saw that he had received a text from Nick; it said that he was on his way to pick him up. Nick only lived about 10 minutes from his house, which meant that Greg only had about 10 minutes left to get ready; though all he really needed to do now was remove the small slivers of shaving cream from his face, brush his teeth, and get dressed, tasks that would take him no more then 5 minutes.

After brushing his perfect teeth, thanks to the 5 years of misery that he endured for the flawless results, and after rinsing his freshly shaved face, he left the bathroom and walked over to his dresser. He grabbed one of his dark blue tee-shirts and threw it on the bed, and fallowed by pulling on a pair of boxers and jeans and then attaching a belt. He put on the shirt he grabbed and then put on a black sweatshirt and zipped it up. Finally, he put on his socks and a pair of shoes, and after grabbing his wallet, keys, and phone, and he was ready to leave.

Leaving his bedroom and turning off the light, he walked over to the kitchen and started to raid his cupboards in search of something to eat. For the past two weeks, with the crime lab seeming like his primary home, he had been reduced to take out for almost every meal, and unable find the time to make it to the grocery store, the only thing he could find to eat in his empty cupboards was an open pop tart wrapper with only a half of a pop tart in it. _Another breakfast to skip, hurray_ his mind mocked in sarcasm beneath a heavy sigh and a growling stomach.

The chirp from his phone finally started to go off again as he saw that he got another message from Nick; it said that he was here. Greg left the depressing sight of his bare cupboards and grabbed his jacket that was hanging on the back of one of his kitchen chairs and headed for the front door. He turned off all of the lights in his home, left his apartment, locked the door behind him, and made his way down to the front entrance, where he knew Nick was waiting.

Walking outside, he saw Nick waiting in his car, so he walked over to it. As he approached Nick's Tahoe, and went to open the door, it was still locked, so he knocked on the glass, letting Nick know to open it.

Nick got the message, though as his hand started to search for the button to unlock the car door, he started to yawn again, just like he had been all morning. He finally found the button though and the door unlocked, allowing Greg to get into the car.

Opening the car door, he started to get in and after getting comfortable in the warm car, he put on his seat belt. He then turned to Nick to thank him for picking him up, but as he looked at him, he saw him yawn again. Greg let a chuckle pass his lips, think it was funny that his friend actually seemed more exhausted then he was, which seemed impossible. "So how you doing" he asked, with a small smile on his face.

Nick's painful yawn had finally passed, and after rubbing his fingers across his eyes to dab away his watery ducts, he replied, "Tired" with a chuckle. "You" he then returned the question.

"Tired" he replied. "That case frickin beat my ass to a pulp. I swear, I don't think… I have… ever been… so tired before" Greg continued to say, but he then found him self caught in a yawn as well.

Nick laughed as well, like how Greg had before. The case that they had finally finished had completely drained them, and seeing the same level of exhaustion in Greg that he knew was in him as well, he couldn't help but laugh at it. "Yeah, same here" Nick replied, and then he put his car in park, and started to head down to the lab.

Driving to the lab, there was silence in the car, which almost never happened between them, but they both knew how tired they both were. Regardless of how tired he was though, Greg couldn't stand the silence, and broke it, to Nick's unfortunate despair. "So, any plans for the weekend, or are you working?"

Nick let out a heavy sigh before he answered. He didn't want to have to think about carrying out a conversation; just focusing on the road seemed hard enough as it is. But he still responded to Greg, and he hoped that his answer wouldn't give Greg the opportunity to lead into any in-depth conversation. "I've got the weekend off and I strictly plan to catch up on my sleep."

Greg heard the blandness in Nick's voice, and after getting to know Nick pretty well after their ten years of friendship, this was his tone that announced that he wasn't really in that mood to talk. Greg understood that Nick was exhausted, as he was too, but still, he hated the silence that filled the car. Though in comparison, he would rather sit in the awkward silence then have to sit, trapped in a moving car, and forcible attempt to bare the twang of country-western music. He would rather sit in silence.

Hearing no returned response from Greg, Nick realized that his simple-response plan had worked. He was inwardly happy to see that he wouldn't have to carry out a conversation that he probably wouldn't have much interest in. But as Nick casually glanced over at Nick, he could see a gloomy gaze on Greg's face. He as well knew what Greg's dismayed face truly meant, and it said that he still wanted to talk. A key trait to Greg's personality, being a sociable person, it was something that was always there, and he knew it was practically torture for him to sit in silence. The silence had bugged Nick too, and the alternative to silence with his favored country music, which he knew Greg despised. Processing all this in his mind, for the sake of his friend, Nick opened his mouth again and proceeded to carry out the conversation that Greg had attempted to start. "So what about you; any plans for this weekend?"

Greg looked up at Nick for a quick second, surprised that he actually initiated the continuation of the conversation. He kept his happiness to himself though, not wanting Nick to look at him as if he was nuts from just asking a simple question, and for a reason that he thought would be unapparent to Nick. Finally ignoring his thought process that he realized was starting to awkwardly carry out, Greg answered Nick's question. "I'm actually not sure how this weekend is going to work out right now. It's kinda weird. Catherine told me that once I solve my next case, I can have three days off. But tomorrow, there is this one night only Marilyn Manson concert that he is going to be playing in the desert, and I've got tickets and I really wanna go."

"Then you should go" Nick suggested.

"Well I want to, but I think it would count for one of my days off" Greg then reasoned back to Nick with dismay in his voice.

"Oh, so then you would only have the two days instead of three?"

"Yeah, and I'm telling you, I need a good break. Plus, I need a car to get there and I haven't found anybody who wants to go with me, and even if I did go, I seriously think I would be way to tired."

"I'm sure the screaming heavy metal would be able to wake you up."

"I slept through a blaring alarm clock in my ear this morning; you wanna rethink that" Greg quipped. "So are you really just gonna sleep the weekend or do you actually have plans?" He then questioned Nick again.

"Well I was being half serious about the sleeping thing, but Saturday, I'm taking my girl out to dinner and you know, having a date night I guess" Nick explained. Then a question for Greg became sparked in his mind. "And speaking of dates, when was the last time that you've had one?"

The faint smile that was on Greg face started to subside once Nick asked this. "I feel completely pathetic talking about it."

"So I'm taken you haven't had a date in a while" Nick assumed due to Greg's response to his personal question.

"Well for about the past two months, my life has been work. I have been working non stop for the past five weeks and that is from the last day that I had off from work. Then before that single day that I had off, I had been working three straight weeks as well. So with only that one day off in about 56 days, let's just say that I took advantage of my sleep on that day off. So yeah, love, and most importantly sex life, it's an embarrassment for a guy who lives in Vegas."

"I know what you mean. I've had my times where I've gone a month or two without gettin' anything. This job will do that to you."

"And it sure as hell doesn't help that we work nights. We're working while everyone else is playing."

"That's why I think that office dating shouldn't be prohibited. If you meet someone at this job, you should be able to have a relationship with them. They understand that with this job, there are odd and irregular hours. And working with them, you could see them and have a relationship. I think it would be a hell of a lot better then just spending your day with a decomposing corpse. Also, then you wouldn't have to explain to your girlfriend why you were late and have to apologize to her over and over again for showing up late and that you were late because you were in the middle of processing some vital piece of evidence." Nick had finally ended his frustrated rant to Greg, and finished it off with a heavy sigh.

Greg caught on to the increasing frustration in Nick's voice and could tell that he was basically venting to him. "I'm taken that your girlfriend isn't a fan of your hours. Is she pissed?"

"You have no idea man? What do you think our date night's for?"

"Wow, relationships just sound great right now, especially since you added the thrill of having a pissy girlfriend because of my job. Thanks Nick."

"I'm telling you; find someone who works the same hours as you or at least understands that being a CSI means odd hours. It will make your life a hell of a lot easier."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You know, speaking of relationships, I had this friend back in college, and I think you two could have made a good couple. I swear, when I came here and met you, you reminded me of her."

"Wow, thanks Nick; you're comparing me to a girl. I really appreciate that" Greg laughed in a serious way.

"No man, if anything, I'm comparing her to a guy. She was just really fun and laid back and just a really cool person to be around. She's one of those girls who would rather go to a football game and eat hot dogs and drink beer till we puked our selves. But dammit, it sucked though 'cause like as awesome as she was, she had this friend, and I swear, if I was locked in a room with her for even 5 minutes, there would have been a crime scene to clean up after bashing my head against a wall till I bled to death. She was annoying and she whined all the time, and she was that stereotypical dumb blonde with the high pitched laugh and bitched that if she ate a rice cake she would get fat."

"I'll take the one who's fun and laid back."

"Yeah, she was the best."

"How long did you two go out for?

"Oh we didn't date."

"Really, how come, I mean you seem to talk highly enough about her, how come you guys didn't go out?"

"We just got along really well. We both took the same courses and had the same classes and we just quickly built a friendship with each other. Plus, my girlfriend was best friends with her and after I introduced one of my buddies, the four of us just all got really close."

"And for someone who you built a quick friendship with, and you have mentioned her even before your girlfriend, and all you have to say is that you two were just friends."

"You know, I can tell your trying to dig deep here Greggo. So I'll tell you. We were alone together one night, and we kissed, to see if there was something, and after we did, we both started laughing. I'm not kidding man; it felt like I was kissing my sister, and she felt the exact same way. So nothing happened in that relationship, and I am really glad that nothing did. She ended up being one of my best friends in college."

"And that was all that happened?

"I wouldn't want anything more to happen. I am telling you Greg, the kiss was weird enough."

"Well did you guys keep contact?"

"Unfortunately we didn't."

"Then why were you saying that you could hook me up with her?"

"Greg I just mentioned her. I have no idea where's she's at. Last I heard from her was right after college ended and she told me that she got two job offers at crime labs, one in Seattle and one in Miami. I do remember her saying that she was considering joining the one in Seattle. But hell, she could be in Seattle, Miami, she could still be in Texas, or she could have gone back home to Nevada, or she could be down in frickin Antarctica for all I know."

"So you just decided to mention a girl you think would be perfect for me, a guy who has gotten any in two months, all to say that you don't know where the hell she is. Do you enjoy building up my hopes just to shatter them? I'm just curious."

"I was just saying that if you guys knew each other I think you two could have made a good couple. I didn't think you were planning on going out on this quest to find her."

"I need to get laid" Greg firmly enunciated

"Well here's another hope to be shattered; she's not exactly that one night stand type that you're so use to. She would have just shot you down and your night would have been screwed."

"At least something would have been screwed" Greg quick-wittedly quipped with a bitter humor.

Nick couldn't help but laugh at this. It was just Greg's humor. He could tell that there was a seriousness in his voice though, and with that, Nick was able to make a certain assumption. "You're gettin' sick of the one night stands."

"I've been sick of them for a while. It's just the same thing over and over again, find a pretty girl at a bar or club, take her home, and then the next morning, never seeing her again. I'm just ready to have a relationship. I'm ready to see a girl still be in my bed by the time I wake up."

"You're ready for commitment."

"Well not like marriage, or at least right now."

"Well I assumed that Greg. I'm in a committed relationship right now, but the thought of marriage hasn't even crossed our minds. I get it Greg; you just simply want a girl in your life."

Surprisingly to Nick, carrying out the conversation he just had with Greg seemed to make the drive go by really fast. He was now just pulling into the parking garage and pulled his Tahoe into its regular spot that he usually got almost every day.

Knowing that it was now time to bring the conversation to a close, though stuck in a slight gloom, Greg decided to end it on a positive note. "Well maybe during the three days that I'm off, I can find someone."

Playing along with the optimism, Nick then added, "Watch, our assignment today is going to be along the lines of a bachelorette party or a wedding. Maybe you'll get lucky there."

"Yeah, but watch, the girl I would hook up with, she'll end up being the killer in the end."

"And luring you in was all apart of her devious plan all along and she'll be just thrilled that she was able to pull you into her little trap."

"You know, I like a girl who's got a little devilish side to her, maybe this whole imaginary concept isn't such a bad idea."

"And you'll both live happily ever after, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from noon to four."

"But before she gets arrested, I'll take her to that Marilyn Manson concert because she just so happens to love his music too. We'll be banging our heads and making love in the crowd to Tainted Love. Hey maybe I should go to the concert and cross my fingers that Dita Von Teese will be there. Like maybe she will have this random need to see her ex-husband perform live in the middle of the Nevada desert."

"And you're thinking you could hook up with her?"

"This is Vegas Nick, the city of luck and lust. I still haven't hit that jackpot yet."

"Well I don't think you're going to be hittin' it with her."

"I thought we were keeping to the whole positive perspective here."

"I am. I am telling you not to get your hopes up so they can be shatter."

* * *

Langston was normally the first CSI to show up for the beginning of his on any day. Being a man who took pride in his work, whether is was being a doctor, professor, or a CSI, he always made sure he made his impressions. He always arrived on time, or even early, he would always take upon a challenge with his work, and always showed great respect for his colleagues and superiors.

Today being like any other day, being the first to arrive, he headed over to his locker and quickly dropped off his coat and then made his way over to his supervisor's office to receive his next assignment. Approaching her office, her door was already open, and Langston saw before him sitting his strawberry-blonde supervisor with her nose buried deep in a case file. Langston knocked on the frame of her door before he entered, and then greeted her as he began to walk in. "Good evening Catherine" he said with his modest tone and complimented it was his gapped-tooth grin.

Catherine looked up at seeing her first CSI arrive and wasn't surprised to see it was Langston. She returned the smile to Langston and replied to his simple greeting "Good evening to you too Ray."

After the average daily greeting, with his mind focused on one particular case, he immediately asked Catherine "So with our assignments today, I was wondering if you think any of them could possibly be related to our first Jekyll victim." Ever since their first victim of the mysterious Dr. Jekyll, Joseph Bigelow, Langston has been waiting for this ruthless killer to strike again. But his patience was starting to wear thin, and it showed as he continually questioned Catherine if there was a possible lead to his newly building obsession.

Catherine had quickly noticed that this was starting to become a routine question that Langston had for her, and as like all the other times, today was still no different. "We haven't seem to of gotten any other leads to Jekyll Ray. I also have talked to Doc Robbins and he said that he would let me know if he found anything that would seem related with what happened to Joey Bigelow."

Another night thinking about who this mystery killer could be, and another night pondering when he would strike again. Returning his mind to work though, he finally simply questioned Catherine about the assignments that he and the other CSI's would receive today, "So what about the assignments for today?"

With his words, she could only think in her mind with a small smile playing on her lips _"Typical Langston". _But the news that she had to give him was anything but typical, at least for the Las Vegas Crime Lab. "Actually Ray, I don't have any assignments to give to you today. I don't have any assignments for anyone" she announced in a matter-of-fact tone.

Langston's eyes narrowed on her face. After she said this, finding it hard to believe, he studied her face, trying to see if he could call her bluff, if she was in fact bluffing. "We don't have any assignments as in…" he asked, waiting to an explanation.

"Well because you and I and Nick and Greg both had been working two big cases for the past two weeks, the day shift has been taking over a lot of the cases. So right now, we just don't have a case" she explained, but after hearing her own words, she figured that she would even have a hard time believing what she was saying. Especially based off the fact that they work in Sin City where the city is alive 24/7.

After explaining this though, finally hearing her words aloud, her little voice inside of her head that had been nagging her throughout the morning was starting to return. Waking up today, there was one thought in her mind. After the long two weeks that she had just endured, she just didn't want to go to work today. Her mind was strictly set on the fact that she gets to have tomorrow off, and with the promise of a warm bed to which she could rest her heavy head and savor her hours of needed rest, work was the last place that she wanted to be.

Removing her self from reality for a few seconds, lost in her at-home fantasy, her momentarily session of spacing-out was interrupted as she heard another knock on her door. Looking up, she could see Nick and Greg both standing in the door way.

"Hey Cath" both Nick and Greg had greeted their boss as they both entered her office as well.

Once again, fallowing in the polite and habitual greeting, "Hey guys" she simply acknowledged.

"So what are our assignments today?" Greg asked, as he always did when he entered her office at the start of a new case. Though he was still tired, he was eager to get going on his days work. In his mind he figured that the faster he got to work, then the faster this case could end and the sooner he could finally enjoy his days off.

Hearing the same question coming for Greg's mouth, Catherine let out a heavy sigh as she realizing that she was now going to have to explain the whole situation with how she didn't have any cases for them all over again. Having just been removed from her fantasy of her nice warm bed and brought back to the reality of work, it put her in a slightly sour mood, but she didn't let it show. "I have nothing to give you guys right now" she blandly announced.

Like Langston, both Nick and Greg's eyes narrowed with a questionable confusion written on their face. Not completely understanding what she meant, Nick was the first to speak up. "What do you mean by you don't have anything for us? Like we don't have any cases today or what?"

Catherine just nodded her head, acknowledging that what Nick thought was the truth.

After Catherine nodded her head, Greg immediately thought that she was just pulling their legs; that this could just be a sick joke. After Ecklie forcing them all to come in and work after they all just closed a really big case, it was then frustrating to hear that he could have waken up for nothing; just coming into work today just to sit around a lab. He didn't want to come into work today and he did just want an easy case that didn't require a whole lot of thought and effort, but he would rather work then waste his time sitting in the break room for hours.

His voice sounding frustrated and defeated, he started to call out what he thought was Catherine's bluff. "Come on Catherine. I'm not in the mood for a prank this morning. I didn't want to come in today, I am tired as hell, and I have the thought of my three days off on my mind, and I really just need a break. So please, can I just have my assignment" Greg fussed.

Catherine was surprised by the gloomy sounding defeat in Greg's voice. Always the lively one, it was an obvious statement for him when he was tried and felt grumpy, and this was one of those moments. She felt a slight joy inside of her knowing that she was now going to be able to offer Greg this uplifting news. "Greg, I am being completely serious right now. Because we were all so busy for the past two weeks, day's just kept getting the new cases. And right now, there hasn't been a call for a new case. So for once, nothing bad has happened in Sin City."

"So your completely serious right now Cath? There isn't a single new case for us?" Nick questioned again with a growing smile on his face.

Confirming Nick, Greg, and Langston once again, "There is not one case for us to work on right now. If we get anything, Brass said that he would give me a call" she stated with a smile on her face as well.

"Well what are we going to do while we are waiting for Brass to call" Langston asked, being the one basically stating that he didn't want to just sit around and do nothing.

Right as Ray asked this though, as if on cue, Greg's stomach started to rumble, and it caught everyone's attention. Clutching his stomach, he made his reasonable suggestion. "Well you guys wanna go and get some food" Greg asked with a pleading smile, desperately wanting a filling meal.

"You shouldn't have skipped breakfast man" Nick joked in a serious way in between a small laugh.

"I only had a half of an open pop tart in my cupboard that was probably stale. Even if I ate that, I doubt it would have made a difference" Greg practically threw back at Nick, defending his starving stomach.

"I think it sounds like a good idea" Catherine reasoned, agreeing with Greg, and also wanting to get a good meal in the exhausted man.

Greg turned to Catherine and gave her a smile, glad to see that there was at least someone on his side. Turning back to acknowledge everyone else though, he made his second suggestion, "Do you guys wanna go to Frank's?"

In the back of his mind, Nick had anticipated the restaurant that he knew Greg would choose, and he anticipated correctly. Hearing the name Frank's, Nick instantly let out a heavy sigh. "Greg, we always go there man."

It was the same complaint that Greg figured he should have expected from Nick. But defending him self yet again, he said "And we've been over this before. It's tradition."

"There isn't really a tradition if we always go there, which we do."

"That is the tradition; we always go there. Plus, Frank's is cheap."

"I know its cheap; the prices and the food. I don't know if you remember but I had a fly in my soup" Nick debated, knowing that if he mentioned the vile vermin that he found in his food would put in favor of not going to Frank's Diner.

But once again, Greg threw back Nick's retort, saying "Then don't order the soup."

Then to further support Greg, Catherine went against Nick and reminded the Texan, "May I remind you Nicky, but you voluntarily chose to eat the fly."

_Dammit, she remembered _Nick silently cursed in his mind, now knowing that there was no way out of this one. He had a feeling that they would be going to Frank's.

"Oh yeah, I remember that" Langston said with a smile as he reminisced on that day; it was his first day at CSI and Nick Stokes had already left his memorable impression in his mind.

"So Nick, Mr. Eater of Flies, how does Frank's sound?" Catherine quipped with a playful smile along her lips.

Standing there, he already knew that they would already be going to Frank's Diner, so there was no way that he would be able to convince his way out of this one. "Well as long as I don't have to pay."

"I'll pay" Greg instantly offered seeming that he was the one who recommended going out for food in the first place. He then turned to face Catherine and with a genuine smile but a laugh in his voice, he said, "Plus I owe you for being on my side with this."

"Don't flatter yourself Greggo; I'm not one for taking sides" Catherine then quipped at him, though she knew all along she was taking Greg's side, she just wouldn't admit to it aloud.

"Well whose car should we take?" Nick then asked, now wanting to leave to go and get some free food, realizing that he was hungry now too. But like Catherine, only wanting to keep his dignity, he didn't let his eagerness for a meal show.

"Well just in case we get a call, I think it would be a good idea if you and Greg went to Frank's in your car and then Langston and I can ride together" Catherine suggested

"Alright sounds good Catherine" Nick said.

With their plan to waste time now in play, the four CSI's made their way down to the parking garage and started to head off to Frank's Diner and Coffee Shop.

* * *

Captain of Homicide Jim Brass was sitting in office reviewing and filling out some paper work that he needed to get sent over to Ecklie so that he could review the paper work that he requested. Today was a slow day for him as well. All he could really do besides the paper work was sit at his desk, which he stated. What he really liked about being a detective was being able to get out side and be able to hunt down the bad guys. Instead, he was being reduced to the confided four walls and had to read over a case file which he truth be told, had little interest in.

Brass had been sitting in his office, waiting for his phone to ring, for about 3 hours now. He had wished he could have gone out to eat with Catherine and the rest of her team when she came in and invited him to join about 45 minutes ago. But due to the duties of his job, he wasn't able to leave to leave to office that he dreaded having to possible spend hours in.

2 hours and 45 minutes sitting in a lonely office, it was all finally going to come to an end, and Sin City would finally come back to life.

Judy, the labs secretary, walked into Brass's office and with her cheerful voice and delicate smile, she announced to the Detective, "Brass, I have an Officer who just called for you. He said that there is a woman who was just raped in her home." Judy then started to approach his desk and handed him a sticky note with the Officer's name and the victim's address written on it.

Brass took the note from Judy's small hand as she handed it took his. "Is this all" he asked.

"Yes sir" she modestly responded.

"Thanks Judy." Brass then started to get up from his chair and grabbed his coat and keys and started to leave his office. He made his way down to the parking garage, and got into his car and started to head off to the address on the paper. But before he pulled out of the parking lot, he dialed the number that he knew by heart of the officer at his new victim's house. He was going to find out more about the first case in Vegas tonight.

Though Nick thought that he would have hated going to Frank's Diner yet again, he was once again proven wrong. Simply enjoying the atmosphere of spending time with his close coworkers and even closer friends, it was just the care freeness of it all that made this for a perfect Friday morning with his fly free steak and eggs.

It was the same thought that was shared from them all. With work claiming all of their lives, it was just nice to relax and enjoy each others company that they all loved and missed.

At this moment, work was the last thing on their mind, but it still didn't stop Catherine's phone from ringing. Catherine started to sift through the contents in her purse looking for her cell, and once it was in her hand, she saw it was Brass, and finally took the call. "Willows" she answered.

"Hey Catherine, its Brass. I hope you're all done with your breakfast, because I just got a case for you guys."

"Yeah we were just finishing up Brass. What do we have?"

"You guys have a 426 in the victim's home. I'll brief you all when you get here, and I'll send you the address as well" stated Brass.

"Alright thanks. We'll leave right now. Bye" said Catherine, and she hung up her phone.

Once Langston saw Catherine end her conversation, he quickly asked with a voice filled with all the interest in the world. "Catherine, what did Brass say? Do we have a crime scene?"

Hearing Ray's enthusiasm yet again in his voice, she smiled and answered "We have a 426. He said that he will brief us when we get there. So it looks like we've got a crime scene boys."

The four CSI's all stood up and started to leave the restaurant. Langston fallowed Catherine to her car, and Nick head to his to get it started up. Greg, who said that he was going to pay for their meal fallowed through and quickly paid for the food before he got into Nick's car. Once Catherine received the address, she knew exactly where it was. Having grown up in Vegas, Catherine knew this city like the back of her hand. Seeing that Nick was also ready to leave, she pulled out of the parking lot, and started to head off to her new crime scene.

* * *

"So we have the rape of a 23 year old woman. She said that she was coming home from work and that she was attacked from behind while she was opening her door. She said that he raped her in her bed room and that it went on for a few hours apparently. She also didn't get a look at him seeming the he not only wore a mask, but he also kept her blindfolded" Brass stated to the four CSI's.

"Where is she right now?" Catherine asked.

"She is getting treated right now by one of the medics. She is sitting in the ambulance right now."

"Who contacted the police?" Langston then asked.

"Her statement said that her attacker called the police. When the police arrived, they barricaded the door to get in, and when they found her, she was apparently tied to her bed, and she was gagged and blindfolded."

"Did she say if she knew who her attacker was?" asked Catherine.

"She said that she couldn't recognize his voice, so it could be random or it could have been personal."

While Brass was briefing the CSI's his phone began to ring in his pocket. Retrieving his phone, he saw that it was another Officer calling him, and he knew that he had to take this phone call. "Hey will you guys excuse me for a minute" he said to the four waiting CSI's and he then made off to the side to take the call. "This is Brass."

"Hey Jim, this is Officer Michaels. Listen I just got a call about a possible kidnapping. Someone in a near by building saw a struggle going on through the window of an old building and he said that it spilled over into the alley way. The attacker then apparently shoved the guy in the trunk of his car and then drove off. I just went to the scene and there are signs of a struggle and there is also blood here. I was wondering if maybe you have a free CSI that you could send over to come and take a look."

"Yeah Michaels, have some guys that can come over. Send me the address and they will be over soon."

"Thanks Brass" and the Officer on the other line and hung up the phone.

Brass hung up the phone as well, and walked back over to the four CSI's. "Alright, so we've got a second case in Vegas tonight. We got a call that there is a possible 427; who wants it?"

As the team's supervisor, Catherine took charge of the assignments. "Well I think our victim here could feel more comfortable talking to a woman so I think that Ray and I will stay back here and work this one, so Nick, Greg, if you wouldn't mind taking the 427. Also, once you finish this case, both of you guys can have your days off alright."

"Sure Catherine. No problem" said both Nick and Greg.

"Great; sounds good. So I'll send you guys the address and tell you a little more about the case after I get squared away with Ray and Catherine alright, then you two can head on over there" informed Brass.

"Sounds good" said Nick and Greg.

* * *

So my first chapter complete. I hope you guys enjoyed it. This chapter was basically what any first chapter is, and that is an introduction. In my second chapter though, which I will post in three days, that is where the angst begins.

Also, to my amigo's who are equally obsessed with Greg Sanders as I am, I hope you guys caught and liked my small reference to A Kiss Before Frying and my mentioning Dita Von Teese.


	2. Catherine, We've Got A Problem

Three days later, and I have Chapter 2 up, just like a promised :)

For you angst fans out there, I don't think this chapter will disappoint. It was also one of my favorite chapters to write. I also want to say Thank You to what I think will be the millionth time to one of my best friends Nicole. She has shown a lot of support in my story, and she also helped me perfect this chapter. So Nicole, Thank You again :)! And not leaving out my other friends who have listened to me babble for hours about my story, thanks for showing your support too. :)

Now getting out of the sappiness, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. There is some swearing, so you have been fair warned (if your against swearing and stuff, which I am NOT). And once again, reviews are much appreciated :)

**Chapter 2: Catherine, We've Got A Problem**

When Nick and Greg arrived at their crime scene, Nick parked his car on the side of the building just before entering the alley way where the crime took place. The two CSI's then got out of the car, grabbed their kits, and walked over to Officer Michaels who was standing in the alleyway.

Leaving the car, Nick saw Officer Michaels waiting for them, and based off their past, he gave a hidden heavy sigh after seeing him. Nick never held a grudge against him because of what happened, but it was somewhat his fault when it came to his kidnapping, so because of this, he had usually kept his distance with him.

When Greg saw Officer Michaels as well, he noticed Nick's uneasiness. Nick had told Greg about some of the details regarding his kidnapping over the past years, including his feelings toward Michaels. From what Nick had confided in him, Greg decided that it would probably be best if he took the intro here.

"Officer Michaels" Greg called as he and Nick approached the Officer.

"Hey Greg, Nick" he greeted back.

"So Brass tells us that you've cleared the scene?" asked Greg, still taking control in the conversation.

"Yeah, it's all ready for you two so you guys can just head on up and start looking around. We were told that the struggle took place on the second floor and after we cleared it, it's pretty safe to assume that it's a legitimate statement. We found some blood up there, and the rest, well, you CSI's can judge for yourselves" stated Officer Michaels.

"Have you talked to the person who called it in yet?" asked Greg.

"Not yet, he just called it in. I asked him if he could wait so we could talk to him, but he said that he had to take care of something first. But he said that after, he would give us his statement" informed Michaels.

"Well when you get hold of him, be sure to give us a call and we'll question him" Nick ordered. He had finally spoken up for the first time around Michaels, but in doing so, and asking an order of the officer, he had kept his head down low, avoiding eye contact with the man.

"Will do Stokes" the Officer announced in a cheerful and assuring tone. Michaels had always known that Nick felt uneasy around him ever since his kidnapping five years ago, and since then, he had been trying to make full amends with the man who said that he had forgiven him. Although in the back of his mind, he had a feeling that Nick still held a hidden grudge against him.

"So I guess we should probably head up now then; start looking around?" Greg asked turning to Nick who then immediately responded with a simple "Sure." Greg looked back at Michaels, and when he gave his subtle nod of understanding, he and Nick started to head off toward the entrance to the building.

"I'll be out here in case you two need anything" Michaels then informed the two CSI's before they entering the building, and Greg just simply raised his hand and waved at him, stating that he understood.

Turning his attention back to the building, he started to put his trained skills to work. The building that Greg was looking at seemed to be a typical warehouse or studio. Dark grey bricks covered the walls and looking up, he could see two large windows somewhat stacked up on top of each other; he assumed that it could have been a window for every story.

The two CSI's then entered the building. Walking in, they had entered the main room of the first floor; this was also the only room as well.

Seeming that it had already been cleared, the lights were on making the first floor fully visible. From the perspective of a crime scene investigator, the room they were glancing over, it seemed, boring. It was empty for the most part, aside from a couple crates and cardboard boxes that were tipped over, but other than that; there wasn't anything else that stuck out.

This room was still apart of the crime scene though, but finding nothing of major interest at the moment, Nick and Greg decided to proceed on making their way through the building, and walked over to the stairs. The second floor was said to be the room where it all began; the primary crime scene that would lead them into their new investigation. They made their way up the stairs to the second floor, and once they reached it, the room before them was a completely different story.

The second floor was a large, open, and a very poor looking room. It seemed like a studio loft, but it was drastically under kept. Walls looked as if they have never been painted before, the wood beams running across the ceiling seemed like they were starting to rot, and the hardwood floors creaked with every step. The furniture was also aged and beat-up looking, damaged and soiled beyond the attempt to renew it. There was also a table that was tipped over, and from the looks of it, one of the legs had been broken off. The stairs on the other side of the room also looked beat, and from what the two men could see, the forth step was missing. As a final touch, there was also a putrid odor of mold of sour milk that was invading their noses. The room was a shit hole, for lack of a better term in both Nick and Greg's disgusted mind. Regardless though of its overall poorly judged appearance, both Nick and Greg knew that this was nothing compared to other crime scenes that they have had to work with, and that being said, the two CSI's were looking at their crime scene.

There were two main parts of the room that would most likely prove to be littered with evidence. One area was right next to the stairs that they had just walked up, where the broken table laid along with its busted leg and some scattered papers. Nick decided that he would start over there. The other area was on the opposite side of where Nick was looking, and it was over near the stairs that led to the third floor. Over where Greg was looking, there was blood; a pool and spatter.

Nick had started off by taking pictures of the small area that he assumed the struggle had taken place. The broken table had been knocked over and its busted leg was right next to it. There were also scattered papers covering the floor and he assumed that the papers could have been on the table, and when it was knocked over, the papers scattered along with it. As Nick continued to photograph the area, he noticed that the papers blank, but there were numerous shoe print partials; there seemed to be only two pairs of impressions.

After photographing everything, Nick moved into his stage of collection. While taking continuous snapshots of the broken table leg, Nick noticed what looked to be hairs wedged in between the jagged splinters. He pulled out his tweezers and collected the hairs, placed them in the evidence bag, then labeled his evidence. After that, he gathered up some of the scattered papers marked with the partial shoe prints; he figured that once he took them back to the lab, he would be able to piece together the partials and get an ID on the type of shoe.

While Nick was processing the area of what he thought was where the struggle happened, Greg was processing the blood, taking multiple pictures from all angles, fully documenting the shape of the blood pool and the spatter surrounding it. Once he had finished, he grabbed a swab from his kit and ran the q-tip through the red liquid. Reaching back in his kit, he grabbed the phenolphthalein and dropped the clear liquid onto the red swab, and as soon as the phenolphthalein made contact with the cotton, it turned pink; they had blood.

Knowing that the oozy red substance on the floor was indeed blood, Greg then started to search around the area of the blood and its spatter. _"Murder is messy" _was something that Nick told him when he was back in the lab, and it was something that had stuck with him, and had proven to be true once he finally got the CSI field experience. With the case that they were working, there wasn't a guarantee of a murder, yet, but Greg figured that for as much blood as there was, there would have to be other traces of it.

Greg started to look beyond the limits of the blood and started scoping the walls and floor with his eyes. It didn't take long though before Greg grew puzzled; there was no more blood to be found. He could not find any other traces of it other than the primary source. His eyes glanced back and forth, gliding along the floor from the point where the blood pool was and where Nick was processing, but he still couldn't find a single drop.

With the lack of blood around the crime scene, Greg walked back over to the blood pool and started to analyze the pool and spatter around it more carefully. Staring at it though, he finally started to notice something; the blood pool was too clean.

"So you say murder's messy?" Greg laughed with a sarcastic seriousness.

When Greg said this, Nick was confused by what he meant, so questioned Greg. "Meaning…?"

"Back when I was in the lab, I remember you told me that murder was messy" Greg half explained.

"Well yeah murder is messy, and if you haven't figured that out yet, then what have you been doing this whole time Level 3?" Nick joked with him, pointing out what he assumed was an obvious inference.

Greg shared in the laugh, but then returned to the case and his puzzlement toward the clean blood pool. "Well murder or not, this is way to clean"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, now growing curious.

"You found blood over there right?" Greg asked, answering Nick's question with a question of his own.

When Greg asked this, a dumbfounded look appeared across Nick's face. Realizing that he hadn't yet found blood, he quickly looked back at the area of the struggle, his eyes rapidly searching for the substance. "No, actually I didn't" Nick responded with surprise, still looking thoroughly through the evidence.

"There isn't any blood over there? You sure?" Greg asked again, just wanting Nick to clarify that there was absolutely no blood to be found. It was hard for Greg to believe that there weren't any other traces of blood in the room. The fact that the blood pool was too neat, Greg had started to reconsider that this had in fact been a real crime scene; beginning to wonder if it had been staged.

Nick was still looking around the area that he was processing. Picking up the table leg again, thinking that there must be blood on the possible weapon; he figured that if there was hair, then why wouldn't there be blood? But still, after he took out a swab and phenolphthalein, the swab remained white. "Greg, I must be crazy, because I am not seeing any blood over here?" Nick finally scratched his head, now realizing what Greg said about the crime scene being too clean. "You know, Brass said that the struggle happened on the second floor, so I think it took place over here, but there's no sign of blood, so… I don't know" Nick said in clueless defeat, finally ending his trials to explain the confusion he was now looking at.

"See what's throwing me is why the blood is only over here. Let's say there was a struggle here, and then the victim, they bled out over here. There would have to be traces of blood from this point to the stairs, because the witness had stated that the fight spilled outside, where our victim was then taken" Greg tried to explain the confusion as best he could, but just saying it all out loud, he felt more lost than before. _So much for that easy case _Greg grimly thought.

"It's also not like the kidnapper would have had time to come back and clean up the crime scene either. The call was issued immediately and a cop was sent over right away" Nick then further confirmed the confusion.

"Another thing, come over here and look at the blood pool" Greg instructed Nick. Nick walked over to where he was standing and looked at the blood pool. While doing so, Greg asked him, "Is it just me, or does the blood pool look too clean?"

Nick just stared at the blood, at the shape of its pool and the surrounding spatter, and he could comfortably admit to the same inference. "Yeah, it looks staged. It's spread out too evenly."

"I kinda think it looks like someone took a water balloon filled with blood and dropped it here straight down, but I think there would be more spatter, you know, like in that clown movie IT" Greg said with a slight laugh at his childish yet disturbing references.

Nick shared in the small laugh, but with the thought on his mind, he started to consider if it was the kidnappers amateur act, and he then considered if it was real blood. "Did you check to see if it was real blood" Nick asked, returning to the seriousness in his tone.

"Yeah it's real blood" Greg replied holding up the plastic capsule with the bloody swab in it.

Nick nodded his head. He then turned his attention back to the blood pool in front of him. "It looks like there's about three pints of blood here Greg; how can someone bleed out this quickly and this cleanly?" he asked, though he wasn't entirely expecting Greg to know the answer.

"A long shot guess here, but someone could have been taking their blood for a while and saving it for this, but I don't know what purpose doing that would serve."

"Maybe it could be a message to someone?" Nick suggested, going along with Greg's thought. There wasn't a whole lot that they were able to go off of with this investigation. At this point, a farfetched guess was good enough; they just needed something to help explain this crime scene that was starting to look more staged with each questionable guess of the evidence.

"Well right now, all we have is a crime scene with a lack of evidence, which means that we could unfortunately be working a case that could end up going nowhere" Greg said with his voice getting heavier and ending his weary sounding assumption with a heavy sigh.

Nick could hear the sadness growing in Greg's voice with every word he said, and he knew exactly why he was upset. "Your three days off seeming farther away?"

"Unfortunately yes" Greg said as he started rubbing his eyes. "I just wanna be done with this. If this is all a hoax or joke or some shit I'm gonna be really pissed" he continued, now sounding frustrated.

"Well, maybe we can find something else around here and then we can get back to the lab and process what we've got. I'm sure that if we can't find more evidence or get any leads off the evidence we already have, the case could end up just going cold and we'll get off the case. Then you'll have your three days off." Nick was just trying to bring a spirit back into Greg's saddening mood.

Greg knew that Nick was just trying to lighten up his mood, and appreciated it. "Well don't tell me that, now I'm not even gonna try to look for evidence" Greg said jokingly along with a laugh.

Nick once again shared a laugh with Greg. "You wanna take the down stairs, maybe you can find something near those boxes."

"Yeah sure, we can meet up in 30 minutes or so and go over what we found, well that's if we find anything" Greg said now returning to his work professionalism, though still holding on to the dismay of this situation.

"Yeah sure, that sounds good" Nick said as he started to walk back over to his kit to pack up the evidence he found.

Greg did the same. He collected the single swab that he collected and put it into his field kit and then removed his gloves and bagged them as evidence as well. Greg then shut his kit and started to head over toward the stairs and started to walk down to the first floor again.

Greg was walking down the stairs, though this time; there was something different as he approached the room of the first floor. He could only describe the difference in a way of an intuitional vibe; something just felt off. Glancing around the bland room, he could see that nothing looked different, but he didn't even care to bring it into consideration, he only knew that something seemed wrong.

Finally placing a foot on a step that was just a few above the solid floor, Greg took one solid glance at the room. Eyes gazing along the walls and moving up toward the ceilings and back down to the floor, all in searching for something, anything that would explain the weird vibe. But it was upon finding nothing that made Greg question whether or not if he should wait and process this room with Nick.

Still standing on the third step, he cautiously processed everything that he was considering, whether or not this vibe could be real, or just all in his head. But he finally decided to just try to put it behind him and just focus on the crime scene so he could finally be done with this whole charade. Greg made his way down the last three steps and walked toward the center of the room.

Greg set down his kit and started to look around the room again, searching for something that would seem to be potential evidence. There really only seemed to be one possibility though and that was over where the tipped over cardboard boxes laid. As Greg looked over at the boxes, but with his conscience still reminding him of that strange vibe, he hated to admit it, but his paranoia was starting to kick in again.

_Maybe I should have Michaels clear the downstairs again, just to be safe _Greg thought to himself as he swiftly made his way over toward the entrance leading into the alleyway. Michaels had said that he would be outside incase if either he or Nick had needed anything, but as Greg opened the door and looked down the alley, he couldn't find their Officer that was supposed to be guarding their crime scene. Greg began grow slightly worried; first the weird vibe and now a missing Officer, he just hoped that nothing had happened to him. He decided that it would be best to give Michaels a call, just to confirm that everything was okay.

As Greg stood in the alley, the rings on the other end of his phone finally stopped after its third ring and he heard a familiar voice answer the phone.

"Hey Greg, what do you need?" answered and asked Officer Michaels upon picking up his phone.

Once Greg heard Michaels voice, he instantly felt more relaxed. He then started to consider if that was what caused the weird vibe; his Officer was missing. The superstition now gone, he felt he could finally focus again. "Oh, I was just wondering where you were? I was looking for you and you weren't outside" Greg responded to his Officer's question.

"Sorry I didn't let you guys know that I had left for a minute. Some guy was lost and I am giving him some directions. I'll be back there in a few minutes though" Michaels responded back to Greg.

After hearing his reason for leaving, Greg started to feel slightly irritated, though he didn't make it known. Greg knew that the Officer's were never supposed to leave the crime scenes; they were there to protect the working CSI's. He also didn't like the fact that it was Michaels that had left the crime scene again, for the first time he left, Nick got kidnapped. Now leaving again and having to watch over Nick again, it just got under Greg's skin. Though not wanting to raise a confrontation, he just ended the conversation with the irresponsible Officer on the other line. "Thanks Michaels; I'll see you in a few minutes."

Hanging up the phone, Greg then comfortably made his way back into the building and continued to process the first floor. With this whole vibe thing distinguished as something that was just in his head, he was able to return to being a focused CSI.

Walking back over toward the knocked over cardboard boxes, Greg figured that if there really was a struggle, then it could have spilled downstairs and it could have taken place over here, which made this area seem like the best place to start processing. Taking hold of his camera again, he began taking pictures of the cardboard boxes from their every angle. About 20-so snapshots later, he had finally finished photographing their layout. With the primary layout now documented, he was now able to shift and move around the boxes and further investigate his potential evidence.

After moving around a few boxes, Greg had picked up one, and as he was about ready to set it down, there was something on the floor that immediately caught his eye. Glimpsing at it, it seemed to be a small piece of paper with writing on it. Greg sat down the empty cardboard box and kneeled down and took a picture of the paper. Seeming that he had removed his gloves, he wasn't able to pick up the note to read it, but was still able to see the writing on the small slip of paper. As the letters became visible, he read the short pairing of words out loud to himself. "The struggle HAPPENS here."

Greg became perplexed as he read the message, not understanding at all what the small note entailed, but at the same time, became slightly worried again. Trying to puzzle together his confusion, he started to talk to himself, something that he usually did to try and help piece together his scrambled thoughts. "Wait, so if this note was for the victim, if there was one, then when would he have read it? Because if the struggle started up stairs, then there would be blood over here, but if the struggle started here, then why would it lead up stairs? Say he found the note before being attacked, why is it here near all of these knocked over boxes; why wouldn't he have just held onto the note?"

With the CSI in him trying to find an answer in his baffled brain, his mind then switched over to the intuition that was nagging at him just minutes ago; that feeling that something seemed wrong returning. Re-reading the note in his mind, the word the stood out, and he supposed that it was meant to based on the fact that all the letters in this word had been capitalized, was the word HAPPENS… meaning present tense.

Greg stood back up and walked back over to his kit to put on fresh gloves and grab an evidence bag so that he could bag-and-tag the found note without contaminating it. As he knelt down on his right knee again to grab the two things he needed, he first decided to look at his picture of that note again. He removed his camera from his neck, and as he started to look at the pictures. The first picture that popped up was the image of the note, and once again, he couldn't stop staring at the giant letters spelling HAPPENS.

His worrying was rapidly growing as he read the phrase over and over again. He was thinking, processing what the note could truly mean in his mind. _"So if the struggle HAPPENES here, and not upstairs, then did a struggle even happen, so is this a fake crime scene? So if there wasn't a struggle down here or upstairs, does that mean a struggle hasn't happened, yet? So does that mean that a struggle is GOING to happen? So are Nick and I in danger?"_

With his mind starting to piece together what seemed to be a logical assumption, an undeniable fear for both he and Nick's safety came in to consideration. As Greg glanced at the stairs, he knew that he had to tell Nick about the note he found or else they could both be vulnerable to the crime that would occur.

Greg held onto his camera, stood up, and immediately headed for the stairs. But before he could even take the first step, a hand in a black leather glove was thrown around his head and gripped his mouth firmly shut, and then viciously jerked back.

Panic was sent through Greg in a flash; _"What the fuck is going on" _was all he could process in his mind. He dropped his camera and tried to pull the man's giant hand away from his mouth. He started to squirm and yell into the man's hand, in attempt to get Nick's attention, two stories above him. But as soon as he heard the clear click of a cocking gun near his ear, the struggles stopped, and Greg's body froze as he felt a cold metal barrel being pushed to his head.

"Shut the FUCK up or I'll blow your damn brains out and I'll give your bud upstairs one hell of a REAL crime scene" forced the mystery man who was wearing a black ski mask to hide his identity.

With a threat in check, it finally announced to Greg how serious this now was. With his bones now starting to quiver under his hot skin, it fully stated to his attacker his current level of fear. He started to try and plead to his assailant beneath his hand, regardless of his muffled lips, "Please let me go, please."

His muffled pleas reverberating off his hand that still held his hostages mouth shut, the assailant was able to comfortable assume the plea his captive made. "No can do stud, you and me, we're gonna go on a little trip. Now I'm gonna lead you outside okay, and you're not gonna do anything unless you want your partner upstairs to see your brains covering these damn walls, so I suggest you listen to me alright."

A man with a gun in his hands already threatening his life, Greg's immediate reaction was to nod his head, stating that he fully understood his attacker's words. After doing so, he immediately could feel his attacker starting to lead him somewhere, and due to his hand still firmly held over his mouth, he was being forced to walk backwards. Greg could then feel the breeze of the cold night air brushing his quivering skin as the door leading outside was opened. The fear of not knowing what was going to happen to him was petrifying, and before he was completely pulled outside, his eyes locked with the stairs. He was just staring at them, praying that Nick would come down those stairs at this very moment and save him. But his hopes were now starting to wither away as he was finally pulled outside; the view of the stairs disappearing.

Greg was now being lead over to a van that was parked just off to the side of the building entrance, and as he got his first look at the getaway vehicle, he saw a black van. The sight of it only insured the realness of this situation. For just the appearance of the van reminded him of the kidnapper vans in the movies, and the thought of himself actually getting kidnapped seemed unreal.

As they were quickly approaching the van, with the thought of being kidnapped, it finally put a fight into Greg. He figured that if he was being kidnapped, then he might die anyways, so why not risk your life right now? Also, Nick was still close enough to where he could possibly get his attention. Greg started to kick his legs up and pull against his captor's hand that still covered his mouth, and when these methods were proving not to work, he began to yell again for help, trying to get Nick, his missing Officer, or anyone else's attention; they were muffled cries unfortunately.

Ignoring his pathetic struggle or futile attempts to get someone's attention, the attacker continued to force Greg toward the van. He finally got him to the back though, and doing so, he banged on the back doors, and stood there waiting for them to open while still holding onto a struggling Greg.

The doors to the van then opened, and when Greg saw a second man, only with duct tape in his hands, he fully started to put up a fight. Desperate to escape, and then improvising on the spot, he saw the back ledge of the van and kicked his foot up and pushed back on it. The force behind his legs was unexpected to the man that was holding onto Greg, and the two of them fell backwards.

When they landed on the cold wet concrete, the kidnapper had finally let go of Greg, giving him his chance to escape. Greg saw his opportunity had presented itself. Lying on his back as well, he swiftly rolled himself onto his stomach, but as he lifted up his leg to make his run for it, a large hand quickly grasped his ankle, and pulled him back down to the concrete.

The kidnapper who was in the van saw how his partner grabbed their escaping hostages ankle and he took his opportunity to put an end to his pointless attempts at freedom. He jumped out of the van and ran over to Greg and straddled his back. He then grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back, took the duct tape, and quickly started to bind his wrists.

_'This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening!' _was all that was racing through his mind at this moment. As soon as Greg felt the stickiness of the tape binding his wrists, he started to thrash around his arms, trying to protest the man's attempts at binding his hands. Despite these attempts, they were found useless as he found that his wrists were now tightly trapped. With the defense of his hands now useless, Greg resorted to his vocal cords, and started to scream for help.

"NICK! NICK! HELP ME NI-!" Greg yelled at the top of his lungs, but was abruptly cut off by a hand returning over his mouth again, once again silencing him.

Wanting to keep his captive silent, the kidnapper took the duct tape that he held in his free hand and then with his teeth, started to rip off a new strip. After doing that, he took the single piece of duct tape and placed it firmly over Greg's mouth.

Hands and voice now restricted, Greg, who was still quickly thinking on a whim, shot his feet out at the man once he got off his back, and he violently kicked him in the shine. Greg felt somewhat victorious seeing that he caused this man pain, but it was short lived as a violent ache engulfed his stomach. The kidnapped had kicked him straight in his gut, returning the pain that he had given to him.

Greg then let out a pained groan through the thick tape covering his lips. It was this that finally made him helplessly submit, though it was against his will. The pain was just too intense to even try to put up a fight at the moment.

Nick was still upstairs on the third floor while Greg's kidnapping was taking place, but what finally brought Nick into the reality of Greg's extremely unfortunate ordeal, was when he heard his name being called. When Nick heard Greg calling for him, a worry within him immediately spiked. Nick noticed that Greg's voice sounded strained, he could tell he was yelling, and they were screams that pleaded to be heard. Nick had also noticed that his yelling, it didn't sound like it came from down stairs, but as if it came from outside. He finally started to run down the stairs heading for the first floor, to see what was going on with Greg. "Greg? GREG!" Nick then started calling, his voice now pleading for his friend to hear him.

The two kidnappers were now picking Greg up from off the ground, and were starting to drag him over toward the back of the van, though when they were doing so, they had heard Nick calling for their captive. Hearing him, they both started to panic, but Greg saw a hopeful opportunity. Realizing that Nick had heard him and still had a chance to save him, Greg forgot about the ache in his stomach and his fight returned. He started kicking up his legs and once again, when he approached the back of the van, he propped both of his feet up and held a firm stance that prevented him from being forced into the van.

"Get in the damn van you little prick!" one of the kidnappers yelled at Greg, showing his agitation with him fighting against them again, but Greg still didn't budge. His mind was firmly set on fighting to stay out of that van, and giving Nick the chance to save him.

Nick had just run down the first set of stairs, but when he did, as he saw out the large window that lit the entire second floor, he finally understood why Greg was yelling for him; he saw Greg, tied up, and being forced into the back of a van. Stopping dead in his tracks, he pulled out his gun.

Greg was still trying to buy himself time as his kidnappers tried to force him into the van, but the focus was immediately broken by all of them due to the disturbance taking place two floor levels above them. Two gun shots rang threw the thick winter air, and shards of glass began to fall to the earth.

They all turned their heads and looked up above them to see what caused the raining glass, and as they looked up, they could see Nick standing at the window with a gun held firmly in his hands

Seeing Nick there with his gun in hand, it finally gave Greg the hope that his friend would save him. But that hope had quickly died, for when Greg put his attention on Nick, it was taken off trying to prevent himself from going into the van. His two kidnappers saw his fixed attention upon the second CSI, and took advantage of it; they both shoved Greg into the van.

Greg was now growing more fearful then before. With Nick no longer in his sight, his final hope started to die. Even though Nick couldn't see him, he still made one final attempt at a plea for his friend to hear, hoping that he would hear the desperation and would make one more desperate attempt to save him. "NICK! PLEASE HELP ME! NICK!" he tried to scream under the heavy tape, but it only translated into an incoherent mess. The doors were then slammed in his face, securing him in the unknown van with two violent strangers; hopelessness filled the atmosphere.

The second that Nick saw the two dark figures shove Greg into the back of their van, he immediately started to fire his gun without a second thought. He was at first aiming for the two figures, but he figured that they wouldn't be able to get away if they had a flat tire, so without hesitation, his aim went towards the men's tires.

As the bullets began to fly through the air, with some hitting their van, the two kidnappers immediately headed for the front of the van. They both got into the car, and with their adrenalin pumping, floored it out of the back alley way.

Nick was still shooting at the van as the car speed out of the alley, but he stopped once the van turned the corner, and it was gone. Nick just stood there for a minute, lost in his mental process of what the hell had just happened, and as it finally fully processed, he was able to comprehend what he had failed; he had failed Greg. Greg had been kidnapped, and he was the only person that could have saved him. Lost in panic and confusion, the only thing he could think to do was to call Catherine. He frantically punched in the number to call her, and as he heard the phone ringing, he impatiently waited to hear her voice. "Come on come on, pick up Cath."

The repetitive ringing finally turned into a familiar voice. "Willows" Catherine answered.

"Catherine, it's Nick; listen, we've got a problem."

I also want to thank crimescenelover and JodsRaine for leaving my first 2 reviews.

Chapter 3 will also be up in another three days.


	3. Victim or Victimized

**A/N:** Sorry guys that I didn't get this chapter to you on Friday like how I wanted to. I wanted to have a chapter up for you guys once every three days, but this weekend was just absolutely crazy (we got new carpet, so our house got completely torn up), so I unfortunately didn't have the chance to sit down, look this chapter over, and get it posted.

Well, tonight, here is chapter 3 for you guys. And to also make up for my two delayed days, I will be posting chapter 4 on Tuesday, and chapter 5 will be on Thursday. So you guys who are following my story have something to look forward to.

So yeah, here is chapter three, and this chapter is all Greg, so you Greg Sanders fans out there should enjoy that. Also, another angst chapter… I love angsty things that put you on the edge of your seat.

Also, I want to thank everyone for all the great reviews. It really is a great feeling to check your email and see that you have new reviews for your story. And also, thanks to everyone who has already read my story. That is also another great feeling to see the number of people who have checked out your story continue to rise.

So I hope you guys enjoy reading chapter 3. Once again, it's completely Greg-centric with lots of angst. And also, once again, reviews are greatly appreciated!

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**Chapter 3: Victim or Victimized**

Fear was pulsating through his veins and perfectly meeting his accelerating heart rate. At this moment, fear was the only thing that Greg could feel, and he could feel it within every fiber of his being. What caused the terror? He was now in the hands of two men that had just committed a vengeful act. Greg was now a kidnap victim; his body trapped in bonds, and his life trapped in a van.

The official realization of what had just occurred to him; the petrifying situation that he was forcible put in, it instantly began to overwhelm him. With his adrenalin starting to raise again, Greg could feel himself starting to burn up. Sweat began to coat his trembling body and hot beads rolled down Greg's face. The heat was making him feel dizzy which made him feel like he needed to throw, but due to the gag, we would be allowed that release. As another side effect to his panic, he started to hyperventilate, and it didn't take long before he felt like he couldn't breathe.

Greg had lost control of everything, and his terror continuing to push one step further, he started to fight against his restrains. Greg viciously and vigorously pulled against the tape that bound his wrists, trying in vain to break the thick binds. His intellect knew that this was an impossible task, but this was a clouded region of his brain at the moment; the only thing he was able to process in his mind was _I gotta get outta here. _

It was a useless struggle, and Greg only found that out once his wrists became sore. The harsh thrashing that his skin suffered against the strong and sticky adhesive, it gave a feeling that his wrists were burning. Greg slumped down to a heavy heap on the cold metal floor of the van when he gave in. His breathing was short and heavy and pained groans reverberated off the tape that sealed his lips shut. Greg felt like a vulnerable wreck.

His attention was that was currently focused on his growing weakness was interrupted when he heard maniacal laughing coming from the front seat. Greg turned his head to look at the men who were mocking his fear, but he wasn't expecting to see the man in the passenger seat already staring at him. The crude and intimidating gesture made Greg quiver under his sweaty skin and harsh restrains. Unable to look at the man who took enjoyment out of scrutinizing him, he turned his attention away from them.

Although Greg was petrified out of his mind, he still kept to the knowledge of these situations that he had learned from experience as a CSI. He figured that because they were still wearing their ski masks, that this could just be a ransom kidnapping or something along these lines of a more simple-plan for a hostage situation. The masks also still hid his kidnapper's identities, which gave Greg a slight hope that they could end up letting him go seeming that he wouldn't be able to identify their faces. After assessing what little he could predict in this situation, it did put more of an ease to Greg's panic, but his kidnappers mocking comments still kept his heart pounding hard through his chest.

"Does he look scared?" the kidnapper who was driving the van asked, seeming that he couldn't see their captive.

Greg could hear his question, but it was only asked as a degrading mockery. It was a true fact though; he was terrified, and after hearing the disturbing excitement in the man's voice as he asked this, it forced Greg to shudder again under his restrains on the cold metal floor.

"Well he just turned his head away from me and he's shaking, so I'm pretty sure his scared Mark."

Hearing one of his kidnapper's names, it began to worry Greg. He did consider if the name was a fake, seeming that kidnappers did use fake names at times. But if it was his real name, this gave Greg a way to identify one of his kidnappers. He figured though, as long as the masks stayed on, then he still had a chance. Even though hearing one of his kidnapper's names scared him a bit, there was nothing that could have prepared him for the terror that he felt once he was asked this next question.

"You scared, Greg?" the same kidnapper asked his captive with a mock in his voice. Inside, he was just waiting for the anticipated terror that he would soon see across his captives face, and he anticipated correctly.

Greg's head snapped back up to face his kidnapper in his cold black eyes as he heard his name. _He… he knows my name! How does he know my name? _His mind was baffled. Greg figured that if his kidnapper knew his name, he probably knew who he was. Once he figured this out, Greg immediately linked together that if he knew who he was; he probably meant to kidnap him, which would make this kidnapping personal. Personal meant that he was dead, and the final way that would assure this thought would be if he took off his mask. _Please don't take you mask off! _Greg begged in his mind.

Greg's plea, that was practically a prayer, seemed to have gone unanswered though. Watching the man's movements, he saw his hand reaching for the ski mask, and when Greg saw this, his gaze returned fixed to the floor he was laying on. His kidnapper now removing his mask, Greg felt that it practically set in stone his fate, and it wasn't looking too bright. He figured though that as long as he didn't look at the two men, he could still have a chance, but this was just his diminishing hope talking.

"You can take you mask off Mark" instructed the other kidnapper once he turned back and saw the black fabric still covering his partners face. He then returned to a casual position in his seat and got comfortable for the distant drive ahead of them.

Greg was still staring at the floor, refusing to look at the two men in the front seat. But because it was an open van with only the two front seats, he was able to comfortably hear the voices, and actions, from his kidnappers sitting in the front. What sounded to be a shifting body, Greg was hopefully assuming that the man who was scrutinizing him with his hostile eyes was making himself comfortable in the passenger seat.

After this assumption, and if it was correct, Greg realized that without his kidnappers watching his every move, at the moment, he figured that if there was a chance that he could take to save his life, now would probably be his best opportunity. He could hear the bustle of the lively city from outside the van and looking out the back windows, he could see the vibrant lights from the Vegas strip. They were driving through a populated area, which gave Greg his chance to get someone's attention.

With the tape that was still holding his lips shut, Greg decided to try to get it off his mouth, knowing that vocalizing his desperation for someone to save him would be extremely helpful. He started to shift around his jaw and pull his lips apart from the sticky adhesive, and it didn't take a whole lot of effort to separate his lips from the gag. The tape was still stuck to his face, but he didn't care; time was of the essence at this moment and as long as he could carry his vocal cords outside of the van, that was all that mattered.

Greg also took to the use of his legs still being free, and in one quick movement, not considering or caring about the consequences for his actions; he moved up close to one of the van walls and frantically kicked the side of it while yelling as loud as his voice would carry. HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! IM IN HERE! HELP, PLEASE!"

The extremely audible racket that their captive was making startled both of the kidnappers. They both knew that they were driving down the busiest street in Nevada, and with Greg now making a very noticeable plea for help, the second kidnapper rushed out of his seat and over toward him.

Mark saw his partner immediately rush toward their captive, and he started to grow exceptionally worried once he had to stop at a red light. Trying to casually glimpse around, he saw out the windows people staring at their van, which raised a panic in him. "Cal, shut him up, people are looking!" Mark calmly yelled at him, trying to keep a relaxed composure and not draw people's attention by his expressions through the windows.

As Cal felt a fear inspired adrenalin spiking through him as well; the though of getting caught and his flawless plan being ruined, it was something that he was refusing to let happen. Approaching Greg, his screaming captive seemed unfazed by his presence and continued to yell for help. Desperate to end Greg's frantic pleas, Cal did the first thing that he could think of that he knew would end his yelling, so he kick Greg right in the chest.

His pleas for help instantly discontinued and Greg began to choke on the air that was stolen from him. He felt as if he couldn't breathe, but after a second passed, Greg finally began to cough up the stuck air. His breathing was staggered and shaky, but it stopped all together once he felt a hand firmly cover his mouth again.

"Mark, toss me the tape" Cal instructed, but once this order was made, Greg began struggling again; he figured that Greg knew what the tape was for.

The light was still red, so Mark was able to have a quick chance to look for the tape. It was right on the floor, and in perfect reach, so once he grabbed it, he quickly tossed it back to Cal. Though once he sat back up to face out at the light again, still ignoring the staring eyes, a car pulled up next to him, and in the drivers seat sat an unexpected familiar face.

"Cal, his boss just pulled up next to us!" Mark announced in a calm panic.

Cal's face shot up to meet Mark's eyes in the rearview mirror, not believing how this perfectly organized crime had already suffered several down falls, but this one could be the worst and the one that could actually ruin their whole plan. "It's Catherine?"

Greg had also heard Mark, but felt that he was having a hard time believing him, but once he heard Cal say her name, Greg started yelling again under his kidnapper's firm hand. "CATHERINE! CATHERINE!" Greg desperately called under his muffled lips; he could only hope that she heard him.

As Mark slightly looked at Catherine, she was acting as if she had heard something, which practically made Mark start to sweat with fear. He was still holding his composure though with his eyes now firmly plastered on the light, and once that light finally turned green, he floored the van again, quickly making a distance between them and Catherine.

"She gone?" Cal asked once he felt Mark speed pass the green light.

Mark quickly looked back into his side mirror, and saw that she was making a U-turn, and heading back in the direction from which they came. Seeing this had set an ease back in Mark, and he answered Cal. "Yeah, she's gone; she turned back around and is heading the other way."

Another trial and another fail at having someone help him. As Greg saw the lights of the strip starting to fade from the back window, he had to choke back a sob. Leaving Vegas and being taken god knows where by two men who had just kidnapped him, he felt as if this was the end. _Am I gonna die _he grimly questioned himself. And to top all of this off, during his struggle seconds ago with his kidnapper he now knew by the name of Cal, he finally saw his face; he still refused to look at him though.

"You know, you're showing to be a real pain in the ass Greggo" the kidnapper snided as he reached for the tape again.

A wave of emotions hit Greg when he heard Cal say this. It was one thing that he knew his name, but now, he was mocking the use of his nickname. Greggo was the nickname that Nick had started way back years ago, and it was a name only used by his friends and co-workers back at the lab. The fact that he knew his name was disturbing, but this began to show how personal this was. Greg was curious, but scared as he considered how much more this man really knew.

Greg's disturbed thoughts were interrupted as he was pulled back into the disturbing reality. Feeling a firm grasp being placed around both of his ankles, he saw Cal bringing them together. With the tape at his side, Greg knew what he was going to do; it was his consequence from kicking the side of the van.

Greg just laid on the floor passively, but it was more so because he felt too afraid to move. But once Cal picked up that roll of tape again, and once Greg head the sound of tape being harshly ripped from it roll, it spiked a fight in him again. Knowing that the tape was to bind his legs only to further victimize him, this was something he was refusing to allow to happen. He figured that he would rather it happen but know that he tried to prevent it then just to let it happen. This action was to victimize him, but he refused to let himself feel like the victim.

Before the tape was pressed to his ankles, Greg quickly jerked his legs out from his kidnappers grasp and he abruptly kicked him full force in the chest. This sent Cal flying backwards before he hit the ground. The kick had taken the air out of his chest, and he was put into a frozen state of shock from what just happened.

With one kidnapper down and the other driving, Greg quickly thought fast and began to swiftly scoot his body down over to the back doors of the van. Seeing that Cal was still trying to catch his breath, Greg brought his leg up and with his foot and tried to pull down on the handle to get the back door open. He figured if he got the backdoor open, he could just tuck-n-roll out of the van, and could just continue with his escape from there.

Cal was starting to regulate his breathing again, but he continued to lie on the ground. He was in a state of shock when he finally comprehended that his captive had just kicked him in the chest. To him, Greg never really seemed like a whole lot of a fighter, but he figured that it just gave him a greater opportunity to teach him a lesson later.

Cal was lost in his thoughts, but was pulled back into the present moment when he heard rusty squeaks and someone yelling at him. As he looked out ahead of him, he saw Greg attempting to open the back door to the van, and it seemed that he just about had it. Cal immediately began to get up, but before he could get on his feet, the back door flung open.

Greg had finally got the door open, but he was so focused on this that he didn't notice that Cal was sitting up. He approached the edge of the van, and with his adrenalin at it peak, he was about ready to roll out of the van, but before he could, he felt a strong pull around his neck and his body was thrown backwards.

Cal grabbed the collar of Greg's tee-shirt, and viciously yanked him away from the back of the van. Cal quickly reached out and grabbed the handle and shut the door.

Once Greg heard the door slam shut, he knew that Cal's attention was going to become immediately fixed on him, and he knew that just having his legs bound wasn't all that was going to happen to him now. Greg shuffled his body up against one of the van walls, wanting the security of only being able to be attacked from the front.

Cal turned his head over to face Greg and he saw how he was now sitting up against a wall. He walked over to Greg, and as he stood there, towering over him, he could easily see the fight in his captive's eyes diminishing and quickly being replaced with fear.

The dominate stance that Cal had over him was extremely intimidating, and the subtle glare that was fixed upon him sent a quiver up his spine. Another trial at freedom, and it failed once again, and now Greg painfully anticipated how he would have to pay for his actions. As he thought about this though, it was a surprising and terrifying shock to him. Greg had realized that he had only been around these men for no more than 15 minutes, and they already possessed a control over him. With this control that they had, it finally forced Greg to feel defeated.

Cal saw the weakness that he was waiting for in Greg. He savored the feeling of having the control, and making sure this power he held wasn't to be undermined, he unexpectedly launched a full force punch to the side of Greg's face. The force sent his body falling limply to his side, and Cal now once again grasped his subdued captive's ankles and grabbed the duct tape again.

Ripping the adhesive from its roll, he saw Greg's body begin to quiver when the harsh sound echoed throughout the confined van. Cal pressed the tape to Greg's ankles and tightly bound his legs together. As Cal wrapped the tape around his ankles though, he began to notice a grimace of discomfort starting to show on Greg's face. He knew why Greg was feeling the discomfort, but it also presented another opportunity to mess with him that he just couldn't pass up. "Getting a little tight for you Greg?"

Another sick mockery was being directed toward him. He couldn't deny that his bindings were rather tight, but what bothered Greg was the fact that he was finally beginning to feel like the victim.

When Greg didn't answer him, it didn't please Cal. He wanted all the control, and if he allowed his captive to choose whether or not to answer him, he would have already began to give up the dominance that he had. "Greg, I suggest that you don't ignore me."

Having given up his fight and submitting to reducing himself to a victim, and now being forced to answer to him; to Greg it seemed that Cal was practically getting-off on seeing him weak and vulnerable. The disgrace that Greg felt in this thought, it made him shamefully question Cal. "Why are you doing this?" he coherently pleaded under the loosely applied tape that only partially covered his mouth.

Hearing Greg weakly question him, he smiled at the defeat that he heard in his voice. To answer his question, Cal opened his mouth, getting ready to state his reasons, but once again, his conscience reminding him of the control that he had. He realized that didn't want to give Greg the benefit of knowing why this was happening to him, knowing that mental torture could be just as bad, if not worse, than physical torture. "I don't have to explain that to you."

Hearing his response that once again left Greg at a confused dead end, he let out a shaky sigh. "So what, you're just kidnapping me for the sheer fuckin joy of it?" he snidely quipped.

Knowing his reasons for committing this vengeful act, it slightly angered him once he heard the arrogance in Greg's voice. "Once again, I don't have to explain that to you. And you know what; you shouldn't be talking right now. That useless piece of tape over your damn mouth, it was supposed to keep you quiet, but I see that isn't working, so I'll have to fix that."

Cal, now done with his legs, ripped the tape and stood back up. Then unexpectedly to Greg, Cal viciously grabbed his ankles again and yanked his legs forward, pulling his body with him and forcing his head to abruptly slam onto the metal floor. With Greg now lying flat on the floor, he quickly straddled his bound body and held the tape once again in his view, and ripped the strong adhesive from its roll.

Every quick action that Cal initiated, it all happened so suddenly that he couldn't even think, nor consider, how to react. When he head hit the floor he grimaced at the throbbing pain now resounding in the back of his head. But as soon as he felt a heavy weight straddling his body and he saw the ready-to-use duct tape in front of his eyes, the pain in his head left him and his terrified mind only dreaded the use for the tape.

"Please, please don't tape my mouth shut again please!" Greg frantically pleaded.

"With certain actions come certain consequences Greg. I suggest that you learn that quickly" Cal explained, but his recommendation sounded more like a threat. Cal harshly ripped the useless, half-applied piece of tape from Greg's mouth, which caused him to hiss from the short pain, and without a second though, Cal placed the new tape to his lips. Then to Greg's horror, he proceeded to wrap the adhesive around his head making for a new gag that was twice as effective.

Seeing that Cal had a sick gleam of amusement in his eyes while he was attending to this cruel act, Greg could only hold a stern glare at him. After he wrapped the tape firmly around his neck a few times, he discontinued and ripped the tape from the roll again. Greg saw Cal tossing the tape back over to the front seat, and hoped that this was now the last use for the tape. His attention turned back to his kidnapper when he noticed that he was now holding an intimidating stare at him. His black eyes pierced his memory and his cold words echoed his mind, "Now, if you behave for the rest of this car ride, which means no kicking, struggling or yelling, then I won't use the chloroform that I have on you okay. I'm sure you wouldn't want to know what I could do to you without you being aware, huh Greg?"

The words already began to haunt his mind. Considering the threat of unconsciousness, it forced his heart rate to increase and his body quiver with noticeable tremors, and for the first time, he finally started to feel a tear begin to well up in his eye. Not knowing if Cal wanted a response or not, fear of anything happening to him and not wanting to be punished for ignoring him or not, Greg began to shake his head, basically entailing that he understood Cal's terrifying words.

Fear was obviously present in Greg, and this is right where Cal wanted him. Cal placed his hand on Greg's cheek, as a taunting gesture, and regardless of him turning his face away from him; he still proceeded to caress his cheek. Cal then leaned down right next to Greg ear, and whispered to him, while letting his hot breath crawl down his ear, "Well, that's a good boy Greggo" Cal mocked with his degrading comment. He sat his body back up and with his hand that was placed along the side of Greg's face, he gently smacked it as another taunting gesture. He got off Greg's quivering body, and returned to the front seat at which he sat before.

His hand caressing his cheek, his hot breath creeping down his ear, and his moment of mockery, once Greg was left alone again in the back of the van, he allowed the first tear to roll down the side of his face.

Greg helplessly laid there on the cold floor, his body shaking under the restrains that he began to struggle against them again. Threat after threat floating around in his conscience, Greg once again began to question whether or not to take that chance to escape again or not. The fight for him had mostly left him, but there was still the phrase that he had told him self earlier floating around in his conscience; _Fight for your life. _

He quietly shifted his body up against one of the van walls and positioned his legs to start kicking the sides of the van again. He immediately began kicking the van and once again screamed muffled pleas under the thick gag. He knew they weren't near the strip anymore, but still figured that if he caught someone's attention, maybe they could see the plate number or give a description of the van; this was his hope frantically praying for the best in this situation.

Panic never even considered entering either of the kidnappers mind this time around. They were traveling through an old rundown neighborhood that wasn't near the strip at the middle of the night and they were about ready to turn onto a road that would lead them down about 30 miles of desert road going 70 miles an hour. But still, Greg disobeyed his order and because of that, Cal opened the glove compartment in front of him and removed a brown cylinder bottle and a white cloth. "I guess he isn't going to make this easy for us" Cal said with a cruel smile of excitement as he got up out of his seat.

Greg was still kicking the sides of the van, but as soon as he saw Cal approaching him again, only this time while pouring a liquid onto a white cloth, Greg's kicking stopped. Knowing he was going to be forced into unconsciousness now, he started to push his body away from Cal's, though his clouded intellect knew that doing this was utterly pointless. But even as he backed away, Cal was able to approach him faster.

Cal once again grabbed onto Greg's bound legs and yanked his body forward, but this time was harder to do seeming that he wasn't acting like the passive victim anymore; Greg was captive fighting for his life. He was lashing out his legs at him this time, but Cal finally got a hold of them and quickly held down his legs. Cal quickly shuffled his body on top of Greg's again and was able to pin down his body and firmly forced the cloth over him mouth and nose.

Greg could instantly smell the sweet smell of chloroform, and knew that he would be under in seconds. The threat that he had briefly considered before he began kicking the van again was now making its self present, and not wanting to allow Cal the free range to do what ever he wanted to his body with out his awareness to it, he did the only thing he could think to do at this moment to prevent that. Greg began to hold his breath and made his body seemingly go limp. After just a few more seconds of doing this, he completely relaxed his body, and he that was when he felt the rag being removed from his face.

After removing the cloth, Cal simply got up and just stared at Greg. Looking at his seemingly unconscious captive, he was surprised that he had shown to have as mush fight in him as he did. After observing him for the past 5 years, and intensively stalking him for the past year, he could comfortable admit that he never assumed that Greg would have as much fight in him as he did. He without a doubt was presenting a challenge for him, but it was something that was unexpected that he rather enjoyed.

While scrutinizing his body, his eyes laid upon a lump in his pocket so Cal leaned down and reached for it. Pulling it out, he saw it was Greg's cell phone; it was only a standard flip phone, nothing fancy. Cal held onto it though, knowing that leaving something as valuable on Greg's keep, with his desperation that he had already shown, figured that he could eventually get a hold of it and call someone, and doing so could ruin everything.

Cal put the phone into his own pocket and stood back up. He was about ready to make his way back over to the front seat, but before he did, with his attention still fixed on Greg's limp body, as a crude action, he kicked Greg in the stomach, all just for the hell of it.

While Greg laid there on the floor pretending to be unconscious, he had made his body practically feel numb, refusing to move a single muscle or breath to heavily. But as soon as he felt the pain that engulfed his stomach, he brought him out of this imaginary state. The violent kick forced his body to double over as a reaction and his breath was caught in his throat again. Though with all the pain that he felt, this wasn't even half of what he was about to receive. His actions bluntly stated to Cal that he wasn't unconscious.

The calm in Cal's eyes turned to rage with only one simple blink. The fact that Greg still fully awake instantly filled with anger and unable to hold back his fury, he began to brutally kick Greg in his already tender stomach, again and again. Completely ignoring his cries and his groans of pain, he had kicked him about four times before he stopped. Cal kneeled down on the ground and grabbed Greg's hairs by its roots and forced him to look at his hate written glare. "You may not know my reasons for kidnapping you yet, but trust me; I have every intention of making you suffer!" he strongly threatened as he stared into his captives fear stricken eyes.

Cal slammed Greg's head down back to the metal floor and immediately reached for the bottle of chloroform that was just in his reach. With the rag that he had still held onto, he doused it with the intoxicating liquid and forced the rag to Greg's face once again and firmly held it there.

After Cal's threat deeply sink into Greg's mind, he still refused to allow him self to be put under, not wanting his kidnapper to have the free will to torture his body without him being aware. But as Greg got the first faint whiff of his second dose of chloroform, it already began to daze him. He soon after realized that he had already endured a hell of a lot from these guys, and that perhaps falling unconscious could offer him a break from his beatings, or at least just not feeling the full impact and force behind them. With the chloroform already seeming more and more tempting, and with the though of consciously removing him from his helpless situation, Greg took in a deep breath of the chemical, and in seconds, his mind became a blurry haze, and he slipped away into darkness.

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Thanks everyone for reading chapter 3, and I hope all you guys enjoyed it. I would love to receive reviews from you guys. Tell me what you liked, or hell, what you didn't like. I'm a very open minded person and I can take critique, good or bad.

Also to formally thank everyone who submitted a review, favorited, or alerted my story (I picked this up from DragonFriend95 and loved it)!

The Amazing Spartaaaaa, crimescenelover, DarkLavi, The Walking Chill Pill, JodsRaine, Jess, Me (Bonnie), Moochiecat, GregsMadHatter, GreggoAddict, LovingYourWork, and CJaMes12, too all you guys, thank you for the great reviews. I loved reading all of your critique, feedback, and positive responces.

Thanks to JodsRaine, GregsMadHatter, and GreggoAddict for favoriting my story.

Thanks to The Amazing Spartaaaaa, LovingYourWork, Lady Sally, JodsRaine, GregsMadHatter, GreggoAddict, and CJaMes12 for alerting my story.

And thanks for the question LovingYourWork, and to answer it… I only used the gun at the beginning of Greg's abduction because it was like the gun like put the shock and fear in check, but then later, without using the gun, he was able to fight back, which I wanted. As I am sure you could see in this chapter, I made Greg a fighter. Like in previous fanfics that I have read, when it's like a younger Greg (like back in the lab), it's a lot easier to see him more passive and more like the victim, which is how the writers in those fics portrayed him and it really worked out perfectly:). But Greg is 34 during season 10 (at least until May 5th ha ha), and a VERY good-lookin' MAN, so I just don't think it would have fit well for Greg to be all passive during this chapter, especially with how he looks and acts now. Also, Eric Szmanda has said in interviews that his wants Greg to be more assertive, so I figured that hell, fighting for your life and fighting against kidnappers, it seems pretty assertive. Plus, Greg struggling and fighting for his life… HOT! It also adds more to the story instead of they took him and put him in the van and drove off. Sorry if my response was really long… I am usually that type of person who babbles a lot. You'll ask a simple question and I will give a 15 minute response ha ha.

And a reminder, Chapter 4 will be here on Tuesday.

Adios for now everyone.


	4. The Nightmare Begins

I am just going to up front apologize to the Greg fans out there and say sorry for not having any Greg in this chapter. There are of course mentions, but hey, I have to introduce the plot for the people who are going to try to find him. Still, I hope you guys like this one. I will say though, I realized with writing this chapter, I really do enjoy writing Greg scenes more; I tend to get more descriptive.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I promise, the next one will be another chapter FILLED with Greg like the last one.

Also, I know I promised that I was going to have this chapter up by Tuesday, and now its Thursday, but hey, I was thinking… I would rather post a chapter that I new was good instead of posting something just to make a deadline I gave my self and submitting something that I was disappointed in. So sorry about the delayed deadline once again, but it's a lot of work to try and get out a chapter in two days, especially when your juggling school, work, homework, a story, and then trying to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep, I just don't want to overwhelm my self, which I think I did. So yeah, right now, here is chapter 4, and during this weekend, I'll post another chapter for you guys to read. Thanks again to all my followers and I hope you guys like chapter 4.

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**Chapter 4: The Nightmare Begins**

When Nick called her, Catherine could hear the panic in his voice. He had refused to tell her anything beyond that fact that she needed to get to the crime scene that he was assigned right away. He said that it would all just be easier to explain everything in person, which basically translated to it's a long, complicated story, and I don't want you to worry. And had Nick known it, with the lack of information that she was given, it caused her to jump to conclusions, which only made her worry more.

Catherine had finally arrived at Nick and Greg's crime scene, but as she was about ready to pull up to the building, she could see the hue of blaring blue and red neon lights filling the alley way. As she finally turned the corner, police cars, assisting officers, and search dogs were already at the scene. _What the hell is going on?_

She parked her SUV right next to what she saw was Nick's cars, and looking at his car, she could see that two of his tires were flat. She finally saw Nick, who was leaning up against a wall with his hand holding his neck; she could instantly tell that he was stressed, which was rare for Nick so it never meant that it was something good.

Catherine got out of her car and ran over to Nick, but as she approached him, she could feel small cracks coming from under the soles of her feet. She looked down at the concrete and saw broken glass covering the ground. Stepping off to the side, minding if this was actually evidence, she made her way over to Nick. Once he was in a hollering distance, she called out to the frazzled CSI. "Nick."

Hearing his name, he looked up to see Catherine making her way toward him. He could see a look of shock in her eyes that he figured was due to the ciaos that was covering the crime scene. As she finally approached him, looking at him dead in the eyes, she demanded an explanation. "Nick, what the hell is going on?"

Nick didn't know even where to begin with an explanation. He didn't want to bluntly state the events that had just happened, but he didn't know of a way to easily explain that your friend was just kidnapped.

Catherine could tell that Nick was lost in though, but at this moment, patience was the last thing that she could tolerate. "Nick!" she firmly demanded.

"Greg was taken."

Hearing this, she didn't know how to react. "Greg was kidnapped?"

Nick silently shook his head.

"Well what happened?"

"Greg and I were working the crime scene and after a while we split up. He went down stairs and then 10 minutes later I hear yelling from outside and I look out the window and Greg is being forced into the back of a van and I started shooting at them but it wasn't enough and then they took Greg and then I called you and now we're here and," Nick explained in a frantic panic all at once; he fear being shown in he voice.

"Nick, you need to calm down okay."

"How the hell can I calm down Catherine? Greg was just kidnapped right in front of me! I could have saved him but I fuckin didn't!" Nick snapped back at her.

Catherine could understand why Nick was up set; for he was mainly that he was up set with him self. "Nick, you tried to save him okay, and that's what matters right now."

"If I did save him, then we would be here right now. Hell if my damn Officer didn't leave again then Greg would still be here."

"Wait your Officer left?"

Nick just shook his head.

"You're kidding?" she asked in utter disbelief. Opening her mouth to speak again, a full blown rant ended up spilling from her mouth. "These Officers know that they're not supposed to leave the scene, so why the hell do they frickin leave? Hell they figured that it would have sunken into their thick skulls once Holly Gibbs got shot. And why did she get shot? Her Officer left the scene. Then with you five years ago, your Officer left the scene, and what happened, you got kidnapped. Dammit, you two are supposed to be in their sight at all times or they are supposed to be guarding that door the whole damn time. Where the hell was your Officer?"

"He was leading a lost drunk guy back to the strip so that he could find a place to stay tonight."

Hearing about the carelessness in this Officer left her in a state of shock. "Who was your Officer?"

"Oh, you're going to love this," Nick said with a snide arrogance, knowing that once he told Catherine, she would practically lose it.

With the tone in his voice, she had an idea at who the Officer was that Nick was referring to. "Tell me that it was not Michaels."

"Hell, he left at my crime scene when I got kidnapped, so why wouldn't he leave at the scene that now Greg has been kidnapped from," Nick ranted with hate covering his voice.

Michaels was standing off to the side, once again being scolded by Brass for leaving the crime scene, but over hearing Nick, he turned his attention away from Brass and turned it to Nick. "Hey Stokes, I said I was sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen" Michaels apologized, but in a way as if he was trying to defend himself.

Nick caught that though, he heard the defense in Michaels' voice, and it started to get under Nick's skin. "You know Michaels; a sorry isn't going to bring him back now is it. You're just walking around with a sad look on your face, but you don't seem to realize that this is once again, your damn fault!"

"Listen Stokes, I didn't mean to leave the crime scene" Michaels retorted back at Nick.

"That doesn't matter, you left the crime scene! The Officer is NEVER supposed to leave the crime scene! You think you would have learned after the first time that a CSI was kidnapped when you stepped away from the crime scene, that you maybe shouldn't leave the scene! You left me and I was kidnapped, and now, you left both of us, and Greg got kidnapped!"

"What are you saying Stokes" knowing what he was referencing in Nick's debatable tone.

"Why the hell are you still working? No, wait, that's not the right question. HOW the hell are you still working? YOU LEFT THE CRIME SCENE AGAIN AND A CSI WAS KIDNAPPED AGAIN!"

By this point, Catherine was struggling to hold Nick back. With every word, he proceeded to move closer and closer to the Officer that she knew he despised, and feeling the anger in his clenching muscles, she knew that if Nick got in reach of this man, she wouldn't be able to hold him back.

"Fuck you Stokes" Michaels snidely replied, defending his honor, as what he thought, a respectable cop.

Brass wouldn't have at it though. He was equally furious at the man, and now hearing him cuss off one of he's CSI's when he was in absolutely no position to, Brass finally set off on the careless cop. "Michaels, shut the hell up and get the hell back down to the station. Ecklie already wants to talk to you and you better not be surprised if you walk out of that office without a job."

"Brass, I didn't mean for this to happen" Michaels defended again, knowing that he was now going to be in deep shit.

"But it happened, and you were supposed to be the one to stop it, but you didn't. Now get down to the damn station" Brass sternly ordered.

Being left without a chance to defend him self any further, Officer Michaels complied with his Captains orders for what he thought would be the last time. He walked off to his squad car, and drove off to CSI headquarters for another brutal scolding.

Left alone now with his two CSI's, Brass turned to Nick, offering his apologies for the events that were happening. "You doing okay Nicky?"

The stress that Nick felt like he was already bearing was already taking it toll on him, feeling he was almost being pushed to the brink of tears. With his friend being kidnapped right in front of him, and now a careless Officer holding true to his arrogance; Nick already felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I'll be better once we get Greg back."

"Well speaking of him, I need to get your statement. For the record," Brass said as he took out his note pad and pen from the pocket in his suit.

Nick nodded his head, knowing that this was standard procedure.

"So starting from the beginning Nick, I need you to explain everything that happened."

Nick took a deep breath before he began explaining the details that he knew about Greg's abduction. "Greg and I arrived at the crime scene, we talked to Michaels for a few, and then we went inside the building to the second floor. We both processed the second floor, and after a while, based on the witnesses statements and the evidence, we both determined that the crime scene could have been staged. After that, we decided to split up; I took the third floor and Greg took the first. I was up stairs for about 10 minutes and then I heard yelling, and it sounded to be coming from outside. I ran down the stairs, and I saw out the window Greg, tied up, and being forced into the back of a van. I shot at the window, breaking it, and then started to shoot at the van. The van then drove out of the alley way, I called Catherine, and now, we're here" Nick explained.

"Did you see the kidnapper's faces ever?"

"I wasn't close enough to see their faces, but I remember that one guy seemed substantially large. Best guess, I could probably guess that he was maybe more then 6' 3''. One of the kidnappers was a really big dude."

"Alright, that's good. And what about the van that he was taken in; did you get a look at that?"

"Well I was on the second floor when I was shooting at them, so I wasn't able to see their plates, but the car its self, I'm pretty sure that it was a Chevy Express. As far as the color; it could have been black, navy blue, I really have no idea. I just know it was a dark van."

Brass finished taking the notes in his notebook before turning back to face the two concerned CSI's. "Well, I'll get an APB put out on the van; maybe someone saw it."

As soon as Brass mentioned this, she remembered pulling up next to a van right before she was heading over here. She remembered seeing people staring at it, but didn't pay much attention due to the fact that she was more worried about why Nick had called her, asking her to come to their crime scene. There was one other thing though that she remembered; hearing her name. It was faint so she didn't pay much attention to it, but now considering the events that have just taken place; she began to consider if in fact she had pulled up next to the van that held Greg Sanders as a captive.

"Nick, I think I pulled up next to that van."

"What?"

"When I was heading over here, I was at a stop light and pulled up next to a van. I didn't pay much attention to it, but people were staring at this van. I then remember hearing someone calling my name, but I ignored it because I only heard it once and it was faint. But now I am thinking, what if Greg was in that van Nick?"

"Where was this?"

"It was right down the strip. I was at the intersection by Caesars Palace, and that is where I took my U-turn so I could get here. So the van was heading North on Las Vegas Boulevard.

"Well I don't think they would hang around the strip. Populated area, plus a kidnapping within city limits; they seemed too organized too organized to pick a careless location."

"I'll have Officers search the I-15. They could have gone west onto Sahara Ave. and easily gotten on the I-15 from there. If the kidnappers have a planned location out side of city limits, the interstate is a good place to start tracking them seeming that its right off the strip."

"Well I'll go and get that APB put out. So what are you two going to be doing?"

"We're gonna start processing the first floor."

"Catherine, technically you can't work this case."

"Because he's a member of my team. Brass, I don't want some random CSI getting put on this case and to try and find him because they are just doing their job. Nick and a can work this case, and we will work this case. We're going to be the ones to find him."

"Ecklie isn't like it."

"Ecklie doesn't like a lot of things, and I don't care about Ecklie right now, all I care about is Greg and getting him back."

Brass was silent for a minute. He knew it was against procedure to allow CSI's to work personal cases, but he completely understood why Catherine would prefer being the CSI looking for one of her own. He knew Ecklie would be upset with his decision, but he knew that Nick or Catherine would rather suffer his disapproval if it meant that they could find their friend. "If Ecklie gets pissed at me, I'm throwing your asses under the bus."

"I'll personally tell him that I wouldn't take no for an answer. Thank you Brass."

"Sure, just I need to take off. We're going to be bringing in the guy that Michaels helped out and we'll be interrogating Michaels as well," Brass informed as he started walking away from Nick and Catherine.

As Brass left the two CSI's, Nick and Catherine just stood in the alley way, side by side, and stared at the ciaos covering the already contaminated crime scene. Careless cops and practically useless search dogs had already harmed a lot of the evidence that ended up being where most of the trace from Greg's abduction was. Other then the alley, the only other place to process was the first floor of the building.

"We should probably head inside; get started processing what Greg was probably grabbed," Nick suggested.

Catherine nodded her head. "Yeah, with all the Uni's out here, even if we tried to process the evidence that's out here, there would probably end up being too many variables; it would be hard to point out what belonged to Greg or the kidnappers from the cops."

Nick just nodded his head. There was a question stirring around in his head though, and he finally ventured to ask Catherine. "Hey Cath, do you think Michaels could have been in on this, do you?"

This wasn't something that had crossed her mind, but she figured that it didn't because she didn't believe that being an accessory to kidnapping was something that Michaels would commit. "I'll be honest Nick, I highly doubt it. Michaels cares too much about his job to knowingly put it at risk. He's just a careless cop, but one none the less, and he takes pride in that. I don't think Michaels is apart of this. I think we need to interrogate the guy Michaels helped out though; the guy who was lost. He could have been a lure or something. He's probably going to be the best place for us to start out."

"And if that turns up a dead end?" Nick retorted.

Catherine knew this was already a stressful situation, but still, being negative wasn't something that was going to get them any where right now. "Nick, I think right now would be a better time to be more positive. In any other case, what would we do? We would search for more clues; find more evidence. That's what we're going to do here." She then turned too look at Nick and said, "We're gonna find him Nick."

There was a short silence, but Nick finally acknowledged her. "I know we'll find him."

"I'm gonna go grab my kit from my car and then we'll head inside and start processing the first floor," Catherine said. She then quickly ran over to her car and collected her field kit and ran back over to Nick. The two CSI's then walked to the entrance of the building, and enter the room that was now their new crime scene.

Walking into the building, both Nick and Catherine immediately began process the scene. Though the room was filled with a disturbing atmosphere, this was something that they had to put behind them. This was not the time or the place to dwell on the events that had taken place, right now, it was the time to piece together the evidence and find Greg.

Nick and Catherine walked over toward Greg's field kit that was still sitting in the center of the room. They figured that it would be a good idea to try to see the crime scene from Greg's perspective, so they started here as well.

Nick eyes were first drawn to the broken camera that was lying right next to Greg's kit. He photographed the broken evidence and after removed the memory card.

Catherine saw Nick remove the card from the camera, and saw him looking through the images. "Did Greg take any while he was down here?"

"I'm not there yet; still looking" Nick blandly replied, his voice sounding as if here was in a trance, which he practically was, with his eyes firmly glued to the pixels in front of him.

Catherine started off by taking pictures of Greg's abandoned field kit. She saw a new pair of latex gloves and an evidence bag placed off to the side, but everything else seemed to be in its rightful place.

Nick was still skimming through the countless images that Greg had taken of the floor above them, but he had yet to find any of the first. But after skimming about 50 frames of practically the same bloody picture, Nick finally found the images that were from the first floor. About the first 20 pictures were just of the cardboard boxes, but he then stumbled upon one that looked to be evidence. "Hey Catherine, did Greg ever bag a small note?"

"No," she simply replied. "All that's in here is a bloody swab."

Hearing her response, Nick immediately looked over at the boxes. If the note was still there, then this could be their first possible lead. Nick walked over toward the cardboard boxes and he instantly found the small piece of paper that was sitting on the floor. With his latex hands, he reached for the note and picked it up.

As Nick turned back around, she could see the piece of paper in his hands, and her eyes lit up, thrilled to see that they possibly had a piece of potential evidence. "Nick, what's that?"

"This was something that Greg found. The struggle HAPPENS here," he read aloud.

"Is that what the note says?" Catherine asked in confusion.

Nick just nodded his head. "Hand me an evidence bag. Maybe there are some prints on here; well run it back at the lab."

Catherine did as Nick asked and handed him the bag. As she did this though, she looked back at the bag that was next to Greg's kit. "I think Greg was getting ready to bag it."

"Well he found it; the picture was on his camera so he probably was."

"Then why'd he set down the bag. I don't think that Greg grabbed the note, because he couldn't. He was getting a new pair of gloves, so he was probably putting them on so he could then grab the note without contaminating it. Do you think Greg could have been grabbed while he was getting the evidence to bag the note?"

"I don't think so. If that were the case, then why is the bag and gloves undisturbed and why is his camera broken? I think he was looking at his camera when he was grabbed, and then dropped it."

"Do think they grabbed Greg because he found the note?"

Nick looked down at the note again. Reading its short passage, Nick's mind started to process the meaning behind the note. "I think they wanted him to find the note. Greg and I thought that the room up stairs was staged. If that is true, then a struggle never happened up stairs. If they were intentionally planning on grabbing Greg, then this note was meant for him. The struggle HAPPENS here; happens is a present tense word. If the struggle was going to happen, it was going to happen here, in this room, and it was going to happen now."

"Well do you think they were planning to grab Greg? Could the kidnappers just have been going after you or a CSI in general? I mean, there is no way that these guys would have known that Greg was going to be sent to this crime scene, or that he was going to be working the first floor. Was it just dumb luck or intention?"

"I think we're getting a head of the evidence here. Seriously, I don't think we're going to find that out until we talk to the kidnappers."

"Well right now, I think we need to get back to the lab and get started on processing what we've got. And if that guy ends up being an accomplice, the guy who was lost, then we've got someone who can give us information."

"If that's the truth, then he better tell us where Greg is."

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I for some reason struggled with the dialogue in this chapter. I personally think the end sounds a bit choppy. This chapter was one of my least favorite to write. It was actually a lot shorter and was the second half to chapter 3, but when I edited chapter 3, the first half ended up getting so long, that the second half just turned into a chapter of its own.

Anyway, enough babbling about this chapter, now on to my thanks to my readers.

Thank you to CjaMes12, LovingYourWork, crimescenelover, catindahat, JodsRaine, almostkaity, and The Walking Chill Pill for all of the awesome reviews. I am glad to see that you have been enjoying the story so far.

Thanks for alerting my story CjaMes12, Catindahat, Bravest Little Toaster, almostkaity, and agentcherub.

And The Walking Chill Pill, thank you for adding this story as a favorite. ;)

Anyway, thanks for reading chapter 4, and reviews are always appreciated. Adios for now everyone.


	5. That Little Red Light

Sorry that it took a while to get this chapter posted. I wanted to try to get a chapter posted once everything 3 days… but it's a LOT of work. I have most of this story typed up, but I still have to… and want to go through and edit every chapter again. I've worked really hard on this and I want it to show.

So yeah, here is chapter 5 and yes, it is another chapter filled with Greg :D! I hope you guys like it, and once again, comments, questions, reviews, alerts, and favoriting; it's all appreciated.

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**Chapter 5: That Little Red Light**

Greg slowly began to creep back into consciousness, very unaware of the recent time passed. As he began to flutter open his heavy eyes, it took him a minute for the blur around his vision to clear, but once it did, Greg found I strange that he didn't recognize his surroundings. He could tell it was a confined space and only a back window brought in the dark night of the black sky. A few more seconds of lying dazed on the floor, he had finally processed that he seemed to be in the back of a moving van.

Though his surroundings were confirmed, he was still confused, not seeming to remember anything that had happened recently, or remembering how he even got in the van. Looking out the back window again, he figured it would be a good idea to look out it and see if he recognized his surroundings, hoping that this could jog his hazy memory.

With his first attempt to move, it instantly sent a disturbing question through his mind. _Why can't I move? _Greg tried to shift his body around, trying to find the reason behind why his body felt restricted. He first saw his ankles bound with tape and then turned his head back to look at his wrists. Trying to do this though, he found it difficult to turn his head, so he wasn't able to get a clear view of his wrists. But after thrashing his wrists though, he could feeling the sticky pull against his sensitive skin, and realized that his wrists were too bound with tape.

His mind started to panic, questioning why he was tied up in the back of a van. "What the hell is going on" he tried to speak, but all that came out was muffled babbling; he then realized that he had also been gagged.

A second and third presence was finally made, announcing to Greg he was not alone in the van, though when he heard the cruel laughter coming from the front seat, he had wished he was. It was the evil glee that had finally triggered Greg's memory though; the confusion was gone, and the reality returned. _I have been kidnapped!_

It had all instantly come back to him in a painful wave. The tenderness in his jaw, his aching ribs, the sheer terror of the reality; his calm confusion quickly turned into a disturbing panic. Like he had tried before, he began struggling vigorously against his restrains, but like before, it was to absolutely no avail. He gave up shortly after, and just dropped his head down to the metal floor again, feeling defeated. His mind started to consider all the terrible things that could happen to him, and doing so, his tremors returned and he felt on the verge of tears once again.

Staring out into the black abyss of the night sky, the view in front of him wasn't the only thing he could see anymore. He felt the van begin to slow down, and upon making a turn, he could see the figures and shapes of what he thought were houses. If this is where they were taking him, then he could have a chance to get one a neighbors attention.

Greg finally felt the car come to a steady halt and immediately fallowing were two car doors opening and then slamming shut. Greg knew they were going to grab him now, but still making it complicated for the two men, he started to push his body toward the front of the van, away from the back doors where he heard their footsteps leading to.

The footsteps finally stopped and he heard the sound of two squeaky handles being turned. The two back doors then flew open, and before him, he could see his two kidnappers.

"Come on stud; we're going in the house," said Cal with a smooth voice.

But Greg didn't move.

Cal narrowed his eyes at his cowering captive, seeing that he was truly proving to be difficult. But no matter, Mark knew the drill, and at Greg's refusal, Mark stepped into the van, grabbed his legs and dragged his body out of the van. Mark then just dropped Greg's already bruised body onto the cold concrete.

Greg was dropped to the cold earth and he landed on the right side of his body and groaned from the pain now imbedding its self into his shoulder and hip. Then, to top it all off, the sore tenderness in his chest doubled as the main kidnapper ferociously kicked him in the stomach again. It was becoming just one cruel act after another, and like before, his breath was stolen from him and he couldn't breathe. He desperately wanted to hug his screaming ribs, but due to the fact his hands were bound, he wasn't allowed to offer him self that ease, so he just had to suffer the pain once again.

"How'd you sleep sunshine" Cal mocked with a devilish grin.

This was the moment that Greg remembered that Cal had chloroformed him, and he feared that he had done something to him while he was unconscious. With a glare that shot daggers at this man, Greg muffled under the heavy tape, "Fuck you!"

Cal just smugly laughed at his pathetic attempt to sound aggressive, but still, Cal couldn't pass up a chance to mess with Greg. "Now Greg, that's not very nice to say," he said as he removed his pocket knife from his back pocket. Cal then got down on his right knee, and started twiddling with the knife. "How about I cut out your tongue and then you can try saying it again," Cal hissed with a sinful grin of glee. With the knife that was in his hand, he started to graze the tip of the knife across Greg's skin; smoothly running it up his neck and tracing his jaw with the sharp blade.

Greg tried his best to hold his composer and tried to make it seem that he was unfazed by the vicious blade. He didn't want to show weakness to Cal and give him something else to take advantage of. Though he was intimidated by the knife that was gliding along his skin, he tried his best to ignore it.

Seeing not a slight fear in his captive, even after his threat and taunting actions, Cal became agitated. He knew that Greg was just trying to seem tough, but he didn't like that; he wanted to see this man's spirit break before him. He knew it would take time, but he knew that at the right time, he would have complete control over him. Until then, he could only rely on crude gestures, and with putting the knife to some use, Cal swiftly and simply slid the blade along Greg's temple, cutting the skin, and drawing Greg's first drop of blood. Cal was pleased though when he heard Greg hiss from the stinging sensation surrounding his open wound. It gave him a small satisfaction knowing that he at least caused Greg some painful discomfort. He knew this was just the beginning though, and there was so much more in store for his hostage.

Cal stood back up and handed the knife to Mark and then instructed him on what now to do with Greg. "I want you to take him inside and leave him in the living room. I'll be there in a minute. I need to take care of the van."

"Sure thing" Mark said as he took hold of the knife.

Cal left his accomplice and captive, shut the back doors of the van, and got into the van. Starting the car, he then started to park the car over at the Parkers house; it was now just an empty house and a foreclosed lot.

While Cal was doing this, Mark was attending to Greg. Mark knelt down on his knee, and firmly holding a stern stare at Greg while brandishing the knife in his face, he threatened, "Don't try anything funny stud."

Being left alone with Mark, it felt like a bitter-sweet reward. It was obvious to Greg that Cal was the one in charge, and that is what worried Greg. Cal's intentions behind kidnapping him have already seemed to be based off personal reasons, but these reasons where unknown to Greg. He didn't know why this man that he had never scene before all of a sudden decided to kidnap him, but what terrified him, was that Cal had every intention of making him suffer.

The bitter-sweet reward though was that Cal's intimidating presence was no longer around him, which he was grateful for. But Mark was still around. Where Cal seemed to be the brain, Mark was certainly the brawn. Where Cal was affecting him on more of a mental level, Mark's presence was in his physique. He was a beast; a giant man with wide shoulders and a square head. Greg couldn't deny that he was still afraid of this man, but his fear wasn't as forward as it was when Cal was around. Instead, fear was over shadowed by cocky arrogance. Greg smugly responded to Mark under his muffling gag, "Or what?" He said this though with more bravado then he truly felt.

Mark wasn't exactly expecting a response out of Greg, let alone a pathetic trail at a comeback, but he didn't really know how do respond to it. All he could think of to do was to place fear back into this cocky CSI's mind. Mark brought his hand forward and stretched his giant hand around Greg's throat and squeezed. "You try anything funny; I'll break you fuckin legs and make you walk in the damn house."

Mark's firm grip that he held around his throat wasn't strong enough to kill him, but it did further restrict his already limited his air supply, making it even harder for him to breath. Greg's head was already starting to feel heavy and it felt harder to pull in air through his nose. The only way to get the suffocating hold to release was to comply with Mark, so Greg subtly shook his head stating that he understood. Mark then immediately released his clenched fingers that were digging into his neck.

When Mark had let go of his throat, it was like a fresh wave of everything hit him. It felt as if his brain was throbbing out of its skull, so Greg dropped his heavy head to the cold cement. His vision was also beginning to blur; a dark haze surrounded the edges making everything around him seem to drift in and out of his sight. He then noticed that he could hear everything really clearly. Experiencing all this, it reminded him of a time when he and one of his old girlfriends from years ago were experimenting with BCP: Breath Control Play. He remembered a certain mark around his neck that was seemingly visible to the naked eye. This would be one of those marks, with every finger imprint showing its depth of strangulation.

Once he removed his hands from Greg's throat, he immediately took the knife and cut the tape from his ankles and then started to pick Greg's limp body up from off the ground. Greg could feel his shift in weight and he almost fell back down to the ground once he stood on his legs. He had still felt dazed from Mark chocking him and all of a sudden being forced to use his legs again, it took him a second to finally get his footing. If it hadn't been for Mark gripping onto his bound arms, he probably would have fallen down.

Mark finally started to lead Greg toward the house they were in front of, or as it was known to Greg, his new prison. As he was being led to the house though, Greg started to take in his surroundings. They were in a cul-de-sac of what seemed to be a typical suburban neighborhood, where every house looked the same and had no specific features that could help identify his location.

Attention that was fixed on the conformist appearance of the neighborhood was broken when Greg realized that he was at the foot of a set of stairs. Mark started to lead him up the porch steps, and Greg first absent-mindedly complied, but once he did, he realized that with him obeying Mark, it was almost as if he was walking to his death. Greg knew that as soon as he entered that house, his life would be theirs, and there could be a strong chance that this house could be the house that he dies in.

Mark was directly behind him, which presented him perfect chance to possibly get away. In one quick action, Greg swiftly lifted up his leg and pushed back on one of the steps. It was the same thing that he had tried to do when he was first being forced into the van and it had worked the first time – until Cal grabbed him – but he figured that it was at least worth trying again.

Mark saw Greg lifting his leg, and he felt the force again behind Greg, but this time he was prepared. When Greg shoved back, Mark latched his hand onto the porch railing and let go of Greg. All that came out of this was Greg landing on the rough gravel.

As soon as he hit the ground, Greg felt the sharp gravel stabbing his body. It was but a matter of seconds before he felt another sharp pain, and it was from Mark gripping his hair by its roots and forcing him to stand back up. Once he was back on his two feet, Mark continued to pull the smaller man by his hair, and once on the porch, he slammed his body up against the wall and pinned him there while he also proceeded to open the front door.

Mark had finally unlocked the door and as he pushed it open, the eerie creaks in the door hinges echoed throughout the house. Turning his head to face Greg, with a profound stare he taunted, "Welcome home."

Mark then began to take Greg into the house, but the refusal of entering this house still present in Greg's conscience; he attempted a last stitch effort in preventing himself to enter his prison. With his hands that were bound behind his back, he firmly grabbed onto the door frame and as well as wrapped his leg around it. In truth, his intellect knew that this wasn't going to stop a 6'5'' man from forcing him into a house, but this was clouded by desperation.

His common sense was proven correct. At Greg's determined refusal to enter the house, it quickly agitated Mark, and in one forceful jerk, Greg was sent tumbling into the house. His foot had tripped him on the way in, which caused him to painfully fall on his already bruised body. Another pain was issued as well; his fingertips that were gripping onto the door frame, with the violet jerk, his finger nails caught a couple of loose splinters which painfully imbedded themselves under the beds.

The pain was short though; Greg had actually barely even noticed it. As soon as he landed on the floor, he started to try back away from the man who was still shooting daggers at him with his narrow eyes. It was when he hit a wall with his back that Greg stopped moving. He really didn't know what good it would do to sit up against a wall at this moment, but what he really took comfort in was keeping his distance from Mark; at least he was currently achieving this.

Staring at Mark and monitoring his every move, he then saw him looking out the door and then seconds later, Cal walked into the house. Once again, Greg was in the hands of two vicious kidnappers. This was already a helpless feeling, but to just further insure it, when he heard the door slam shut and then the final click of a lock ringing in his ears, it made him feel like a prisoner; their prisoner.

When Cal caught sight of Greg, there wasn't a conversation to be held, only the next step in attending to their captive. "Let's take him down stairs."

With two brute men now approaching him, Greg froze. For a second he did contemplate fighting against them, but the dominating and intimidating sight of the men made this thought wither away.

Mark and Cal both grabbed one of Greg's arms and lifted his body up off the floor and started to lead him down the hall that was just to their right. It was a short hallway and at the very end seemed to be a living room; they weren't headed their though. Greg was stopped in front of the door on the left side and as the door opened was immediately shoved inside the room and was thrown up against a wall. There was a brief pain in his bruised shoulder, but the pain was distracted by what caught his sight. He wasn't standing in a small room; there was a pair of stairs leading down into what looked like a black abyss.

"Start walking," was all that Cal ordered.

Greg hesitantly looked down into the black room of nothing. He couldn't see a damn thing and didn't want to walk down there. When he didn't immediately comply though, it initiated another threat.

"Walk down the stairs or Mark will happily push you down," Cal once again threatened. He said this without the slightest shrivel of emotion, only force and a sense that he would truly stand by his word.

This time, Greg's reaction was instant. Not wanting to fall down a flight of stairs he couldn't even see the end of and further batter his breaking body was enough to make him take that first step. He tried to walk down the stairs as quickly as possible, so not to upset Cal, whose presence was only two steps behind him. Greg was already finding it to be difficult to walk down the stairs with his hands bound behind his back, and was proving to be a further challenge due to his trembling knees. Unable to properly hold his balance, and with Cal directly behind him with a conscience threat to push him down the creaky stairs case, they were all factors that were making this single flight of stairs feel like they were endless.

Greg finally reached the ground floor though – after what felt like an eternity – and due to Cal being right behind him, he immediately felt Cal's hand wrap around his arm and take a firm vice-like grip on him. Mark wasn't far behind them either, and when he reached the floor, the foot steps continued off to the side of the black room. When his foot steps stopped, the darkness was instantly filled with light, and the awakening horrors of this place were brought to life.

There isn't anything to be afraid of when it comes to a normal slated back chair, but in this moment's context, the chair that was sitting in the middle of the room said it all. Greg felt like it was almost speaking to him, mocking in an eerie voice, "You're going to die here."

Cal saw Greg's fixed terror on the simple, yet boldly stated chair, and with Mark making his way back toward them, he knew it was time to proceed with his next line of business. With his free hand, Cal took a firm hold of Greg's shoulder and with his leg, kicked the back of Greg's knees, and like it was expected, they buckled under him and sent Greg falling to his knees on the solid concrete.

The pain that shot threw Greg's knees was intense but was briefly noted. It had disappeared when he felt his roots getting ripped back once again but Cal's firm grip. He was forced to look at the disgusting face of Cal again, forced to see the gleam of amusement in his black eyes.

Mark as well knew what their next chore with their captive was. Kneeling down behind Greg, he viciously took hold of Greg's raw wrists and cut the tape from them. He was then ready to remove his CSI vest, but Greg had a different plan.

At his unexpected newly found freedom, Greg acted instantly. Regardless of the hand still holding his hair, he ledged out at Cal and brought him down to the ground. His mind was once again clouded by desperation, and that being the case, this was another plan that Greg hadn't entirely thought through. Cal was down on the ground, but the monstrous man behind him quickly grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped him backwards while choking him in the process. His head heavily hit the concrete floor, and if that hadn't already dazed him enough, the forceful punch to his bruised face did.

Cal was furious with Greg, having it now been the second time that he had attacked him. Standing back up, he made his way back over to his stubborn and dimwitted captive. Cal straddled his aching body and removed his gun from the waist band of his jeans. Clicking the safety of the violent weapon, he firmly held it under Greg's chin.

When Greg felt the cold barrel of the gun pushing his chin up, the dazed sense was gone and the terror returned; he was frozen in his quivering skin. The cocky decision on his part to want to fight back had subsided for once, and was instantly replaced with noticeable fear. Having never been held at gun point with a real gun before, graphic thought of a simple pull of a trigger blasting his head apart was enough to force him to obey to the threat.

"You know Sanders'; you're really starting to piss me the fuck off. If you dare consider trying something like that again, I can insure you that you'll be in this exact position again, only I'm gonna actually pull the trigger." Cal said with without mercy or even the slightest sense of sanity in his voice.

The gun was in place and the words were in check. Greg wanted to shake his head, so to state that he understood Cal's every threatening word, but he was petrified to make even the subtlest of movements; he didn't want Cal to panic at the slight movement and blow his brains out. Greg figured though, with Cal's confidence in holding the weapon, he probably wouldn't be the one to carelessly fire off the weapon due to a subtle movement; this was a man that knew how to use a gun. Coming to this conclusion, Greg subtly shook his head.

"Now, we're going to take off your vest. We're gonna send a little gift to Nick and Catherine back at CSI, so if you dare make one sudden movement, then you're gonna be seeing this room covered in red in no more then two seconds, got it."

It was a merciless threat, but Greg only felt happiness. Hearing that his kidnappers were going to send something to Nick and Catherine, it stated that they were going to make contact with them. They would be given evidence that they could fallow and hopefully use to find him. It gave Greg a hope that he could still have a chance at surviving all this, that Nick and Catherine could find him. He was thankful that he wasn't some randomly missing victim that was kidnapped for a brutal intent to be killed. With his kidnappers making contact with Nick and Catherine, it almost stated that this could end up being a ransom kidnapping, which meant that there was a chance at survival. So not to anger Cal, like before, Greg calmly shook his head, letting the trigger happy gunman know he once again understood and would comply.

Seeing Greg shake his head again, he got off him. A threat in check and a now passive captive at the hands, Cal took this moment to dismiss him self so that he could retrieve something from up stairs. "Mark, I'm gonna go grab something really quick; so just take his vest off and put him in the chair. If he tries anything, you know what to do," he instructed as he began to head up the stairs.

Mark complied with his next order and walked over to Greg. There was a submissiveness within him, which gave Mark confidence that he easily overpowered the timid looking man. With harsh hands, Mark started to remove Greg's vest. He unzipped it and then rolled Greg onto his stomach and roughly yanked the vest off his shoulders before throwing it off to the side of the room. Mark then grabbed Greg by his arm and dragged him over toward the chair.

Greg was being passive throughout Mark's rough manhandling, but approaching that chair, a desperate fight started to build inside of him again, desperate to not be bound to that chair. As he was right next to it, Mark lifted up his body from the ground and this was when Greg kicked the chair over.

Cal had made his way back down the stairs again, and it was at the moment that he saw Greg fighting against Mark again, something he thought Greg was done with. This had displeased Cal, but then again, he presented an opportunity for him to teach Greg a lesson for disobeying, and he figured that Nick and Catherine would just love to see it.

Greg was still struggling against Mark, but stopped once Cal walked over toward him; Greg could honestly admit that he was terrified of this man. When he saw Cal then pick up the chair that he had kicked over and as he saw the duct tape in his hands, he knew now that there was nothing that he could do to prevent himself from being tied to that chair. Two large and assertive men against a bruised and battered him; there was a slim to non chance that he would be able to fight his way out of this one.

In one swift movement, Mark shoved Greg down in the chair and firmly held his body down as Cal yanked his arms behind the chair and bound them tightly with the tape. Once his arms were once again secure, Cal handed the tape to Mark who then proceeded to bind Greg's legs to the chair.

Greg hated now being attached to the chair, for it made him feel completely vulnerable. Still his mind did see another possible opportunity for escape seeming that only his legs were attached to the chair, and his hands weren't. Though, this though didn't last long. Once he heard a quick zip, he started to tug his hands, and realized that he arms were now attached to the chair. Faintly seeing the thick black plastic around his wrists, he saw that his hands had been zip tied threw the slates of the chair. He was fully restrained.

Being tied to a chair, Greg felt vulnerable and trapped. As he vigorously thrashed his body against his restrains, and his heart rate increased, he could feel a panic attack coming on. His breathing was becoming heavy as well, and he was finding it harder to breath due to the gag. But his panic was put at a temporary halt when he felt a heavy punch to his stomach. The punch immediately stole his breath from him, but the pain was so intense that it forced a tear past his eyes. Greg had feared the first beating that would come upon his chest once his vest was removed. His stomach and chest were already two tender and bruising regions of his body, and now, with only the flimsy fabric of his tee-shirt protecting his body, he knew the pain would be twice as excruciating.

As Greg caught his breath though again, looking up, there were tow things that really caught his attention. One; both Cal and Mark had on two black ski masks again. And two; they were setting up a video camera. In fear, Greg started considering if the "gift" that Cal was going to send to Nick and Catherine would be a video. It was a bitter-sweet action. The sweetness was from the hope that this could be the ransom video, and the bitterness was from the fact that Nick and Catherine would have to watch these two vicious men do only God knows what to him, whether it was merely beating him, or something that could end up being much worse.

Cal left the side of the video camera and made his way over to Greg with a knife in his hand. Mark on the other hand was making his way over to the light switch. With the flip of a switch, everything had gone black.

Greg saw the knife in Cal's hand and being able to feel Cal's close presence by his hot breath on his neck, he feared what he might do to him with the knife, and he hated not being able to see it. Greg then felt a sharp blade digging in to the sensitive skin of his neck, and was terrified that this whole ransom thing was just his hope talking and for this video, Cal could just simply slit his throat. His breathing started to hitch again due to the terror that he was building up in his mind. Then, all of a sudden, a little red light flicked on in the blackness, and Greg could only assume that the recording had begun.

* * *

For alerting, thank you to surrealgreen, The Walking Chill Pill, TopazMage, KingofBears, RockyWench, and Keyxi.

For adding this to their favorite stories, thank you TopazMage and KingofBears.

And for The Walking Chill Pill, Greg'sgirl5, and JodsRaine, thank you for the awesome reviews. I'm glad that you guys liked chapter 4 and it made me happy to read that you guys didn't think the dialogue was bad… so yeah… thanks guys for your reviews. :D

JodsRaine: Well for right now… yes there is a pattern… but it breaks for a while. So yeah, I guess I am just writing each chapter for what ever part I feel like. And yeah, with you asking this question… guess what the next chapter is going to be focused on… Yes, another Nick and Catherine chapter. But I don't think it will disappoint… it was another chapter I had fun writing… I get really descriptive about Nick's emotions in one scene, and I think it pretty good :D!

So for now… Adios people :D!


	6. First Contact

Woo hoo, I got another chapter up for you guys in three days :D! I have been non-stop editing this chapter, and I practically re-wrote the whole thing in three days. I know that doesn't sound that epic, but when you juggle in finals at school, job searching, and trying to have a social life, it's a lot of work. I feel exhausted, but happy. Any way, enough babbling about me.

There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter and finally, some forensics. As I said in my AN last chapter, this was another one of my favorite chapters to write. Also… I know its long (longer then chapter 1 actually), but please, no complaints on how long this chapter is. If I were to slip up the chapters, then it wouldn't leave a cliff hanger and the next chapter wouldn't be a chapter FILLED with Greggo. I know its long, but I really put a lot of work into it.

So, on to my story. Also, if the license plate in here matches anyone's in real life… then that was completely coincidental… they were just randomly picked numbers and letters.

And common guys… the first few chapters were great with reviews… don't hold out on me now… so yes, please, I would LOVE more reviews from you guys… They make me happy :D!

OH… and I forgot to mention this in my last chapter… BUT HOW GREAT WAS A KISS BEFORE FRYING (for those Greg fans out there who saw it and thought it was just AMAZING :D!)! (And for those who have not scene it... I know a sorry isn't much… if anything at all… but I am soooooooooooooooo sorry that you haven't scene it yet… I wouldn't be here right now posting this chapter if I didn't see it last Thursday.)

So yeah, here is chapter 6 and I hope you guys like it :D!

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**Chapter 6: First Contact**

Nick was standing outside of the interrogation room looking at the man before him. He was one that looked like he belonged with the upper class, but it seemed evident that he also looked like he had a rough night in Vegas. His nice suit that he was wearing was wrinkled and had a few stains on it, his hair was a medium length and every strand looked greasy, and his face had a five o'clock shadow. If he was cleaned up, he could easily pull off the look of a wealthy man.

"Good evening Mr. Hessler, my name is Nick Stokes and I'm gonna be asking you a few questions tonight okay," he announced as he entered the interrogation room and took a seat across from his first possible suspect.

"Is this going to take long? I was looking for this really… pretty lady… and I still can't find her… and I need to. See… I promised her… the night of her life," were Mr. Hessler's first words; they were slow and slurred.

Hearing his voice, Nick instantly knew the man was drunk. He was talking with a lazy drawl and his eyes were droopy, and not to mention the putrid sent that left his mouth. "Looks like you had the night of you life tonight? Getting drunk in Vegas and just being apart of one big party, meeting beautiful woman, being and accomplice to kidnapping; sounds like your fun night is about to end though Bernie."

"Whoa whoa whoa… I didn't kidnap anybody. I'm a good person."

With his words, Nick then saw the ring on his possible suspects finger; a wedding ring. "Is that a ring on your finger Bernie? Cheating on your wife doesn't make you a real great person."

Bernie's eyes narrowed at Nick. "Are you my therapist… I don't think so buddy. Listen, okay, I'm sorry that I don't have morals. All I wanted to do… was come to Vegas… and go to a couple parties and sleep with some pretty girls… Is that why I'm here? Is it against the law to commit a sin in of all places, Sin City?"

"No, but it is against the law to kidnap someone. Even if you weren't the kidnapper, you'll still be going to jail if you're an accomplice Bernie," Nick sternly explained, hoping this threat would be enough to bring this lost-minded man to some sort of reality.

"I didn't kidnap anyone… I swear," he slurred with a look of shock and oblivion on his face.

"Bernie, I want you to tell me what you were doing over on Tropicana? You were on the right way to the strip, but you were a little far from it, and a little too close to my crime scene."

"I don't remember," he blankly admitted.

"Well you better start remembering. A CSI was kidnapped tonight from a crime scene and our Officer wasn't there to protect him because he was helping you. If you are an accomplice and were supposed to play this bull shit _I'm lost_ story to get him away from the crime scene, then you can forget about giving that pretty lady you lost the time of her life."

"What?" Hessler yelled back at Nick in both confusion and shock. "Okay listen, I didn't kidnap any body! Okay I wasn't lost, but I kinda was okay; I'm drunk, if you can't tell Sherlock."

"Well with that right there, you better choose your next words carefully Bernie, or else or looking like a guilty accomplice."

Though he was drunk, the threat of prison brought his mind back to reality in its small dose. "Okay, so this is what happened tonight. I was with these two chicks… and we went to this motel and then when I went to the bathroom, they left for some reason… I then left looking for them, and then this van pulls up next to me. The guy tells me that he'll give me $1000 bucks to go tell the cop around the corner that I was lost and ask him if he could help me get down to the strip. I said sure, he paid me and then drove off. I did what he asked me to do, the cop showed me how to get back to the strip, and then told me to try the MGM Grand Hotel. Then, next thing I know it, I got a cop telling me that I'm going down town and now I've got you guys accusing my ass."

So he wasn't an accomplice; only a random drunk picked to fulfill two vengeful kidnappers work. Still, this man was now their first potential witness, so Nick started to question him. "So the guys that gave you the money, did you get a good look at them?"

"Yeah, there were two of them."

This wasn't the answer that Nick was exactly looking for. "Well could you describe them?"

"Oh… no it was too dark. Plus I wasn't really paying attention to his face as much as I was the $1000 buck he was holding," the wasted man honestly answered.

"Well did you get a look at the van? Could you describe that?"

"Oh yeah, that one's easy. It was a black Chevy."

"Did he tell you anything other then to go and tell you cop you were lost."

"Nope. I told me to make to make it convincing though, which wasn't that hard seeming that I was kinda lost."

Hessler's answers weren't solid proof, but they were safe and confident assumption. The two kidnappers had paid this poor drunken sap to play a lost fellow so to lure away Michaels from the crime scene. Nick had a feeling that this would be all that he would be able to get from this witness. "Alright Bernie, I guess were just about done here. But before we release you, is there anything else that you can tell us?"

"I've got a pretty girl waiting for me at MGM that I would really like to go see right now," Bernie said with a cheesy wiggle in his eyebrow.

Another cocky response from a conscienceless drunk; Nick let out a heavy sigh and felt happy that he was finally done with this interrogation. "Alright, you're free to go Mr. Hessler. Thank you for your help. Also, stay in Vegas; don't go skipping town unless you want to look guilty again."

"Are you kidding, you couldn't pay me enough to leave this city," he said with a smug laugh as he left the interrogation room.

The drunken arrogance in this pathetic man's voice had gotten to Nick. "But someone can pay you 1K to act like a dumbass," he muttered under his breath. He felt that the interrogation didn't really get them anywhere. It did explain a few things, but all in all, it wouldn't do anything to help them find Greg. The only thing he could really do now was wait for the evidence to finish processing, which he prayed would give them a led to follow. If the evidence came back a dead end, and if the kidnappers didn't contact them, then this could end up being a very unfortunate case that could go cold.

With one suspect done with and out of the way now, he figured that he should go and see if there were any new developments with the evidence of anything else. Nick got up from his seat and left the interrogation room and headed down toward Catherine's office.

With Nick interrogating their only suspect and the evidence still processing, there wasn't anything that Catherine could do but sit and wait. Looking at the clock, it was already 6:30 in the morning. Never has time seemed to go by so fast, and yet go so slow at the same time; Greg had already been missing for 6 hours. Being a person with a lack of patience and a need to be constantly doing something, being forced to stay put was killing her. She wanted to be conducting interrogations and helping find Greg; sitting in her office, she felt like this was how she was failing him.

There was finally a face that walked into the room that she hoped had some answers for her, thought the look on Nick's face was quickly diminishing her own hope. "How did the interrogation go?"

"It was practically useless. Its turns out that he was only a semi-lost and completely random guy that got pulled over by a black van who offered him $1000 dollars to tell Michaels that he was completely lost and ask if he could lead him back to the strip," he Nick bluntly explained as he sat down across from her.

"So our lost guy was the bait for Michaels?" she suggested.

"It looks that way."

"See, I don't see why Michaels couldn't have just told him to walk straight down Tropicana Ave for a couple blocks, and when he saw the bright lights of the Vegas, he was on the strip." Her mind was still finding ways to have avoided this situation, but everyone of them all turned back to pointing the finger at Michaels; he was the true one to blame for this.

"Speaking of Michaels, has he been interviewed yet?"

"Brass interviewed him, and from what he told us – there was a guy who looked like he had a rough night was lost and asked for directions on how to get to the strip – well, it seems to match your suspect's story."

"Well, my suspect was more of a witness. He only gave as good of a description of the van as I did, but still, it's now proof that this was planned; it wasn't random. Greg's kidnappers knew what they were doing. They staged the fake crime scene so that they could grab him, and they used a random drunk guy as bait to get Michaels away so that they had the chance to grab him."

"Nick, I'm still curious, do you really think their intent was to grab Greg? Because how did they know that Greg was going to go to the first floor, or even if he was going to show up at the scene? It could just as easily have been you or me or Langston that could have gotten kidnapped tonight."

Nick had already questioned this himself, but he didn't have an answer for her. "Catherine, I think you're reading too much into this right now. I don't have an answer for you right now, but I'm sure if this investigation gets a new solid lead to fallow up on, then we'll be able to find out that answer. Right now, all we have is some staged blood, a note with possible prints, and a drunk witness."

"Well now you have some unknown staged blood," Wendy announced as she walked into Catherine's office. She had heard Nick listing off the little evidence that they did have, and felt bad that her evidence that she had processed didn't offer much help either.

"You've got the blood processed?" Catherine asked.

"Yes; the hair too. Unfortunately, they're both unknown. I can tell you though that the blood and the hair, they belong to the same donor; male, but there were no hits in CODIS." Wendy then handed the report to Catherine.

"Thank you Wendy," Catherine said as she started to glimpse at the processed evidence before her, reading the information that Wendy had just announced.

Noting that her presence was no longer of service at the moment, Wendy dismissed her self and started to head back to her lab.

"Well there goes the hope of getting an idea on the blood. Now all that we have to hope for is the note," Nick said with an optimistic attitude. There were already too many negative factors that have already been contributed to today's events, and he was desperate for some good news.

"A staged scene with unknown blood and a planned kidnapping; why am I thinking that the note isn't going to hold much hope for us?" she reasoned.

Catherine's logic was reasonable, and it quickly and unfortunately damaged Nick's hope.

Though, where hope was lost, it had been restored. Judy, the labs secretary, had just walked into Catherine's office. "Catherine, can you guys come to the front desk for a minute. There is a package for you," she announced in with tiny voice and a simple smile.

Catherine didn't want to get too excited, for she didn't want to be let down, but she was hoping that this package had something to do with Greg. If the note did come back clean like she figured it would, then they could be at their first dead end in the case.

Catherine stood up from her desk and her and Nick fallowed behind Judy to her own desk. Both she and Nick were following behind the petite secretary, but due to her small stature and short legs, her steps were rather short. They both wanted to pass her, but new that gesture would be both rude and unprofessional; plus, they would be leaving her in the dust.

They were finally approaching the front desk, and standing there was a boy with a medium sized box in his hands. The boy looked maybe 17 and had an edgy gothic appearance to him. They didn't want to be ones to judge him by his stereotype, but also due to past behavior of similar looking witnesses and suspects, they had picked him as a punk that would end up being complicated and arrogant.

"Nick, Catherine; this is Andrew Billium. This young man here has a package for you guys," Brass informed the two CSI's now standing before them. "It's something to do with Greg," he also added.

Without a question directed toward him, Andrew began to explain how this package ended up in his hands. "Yeah, I was just walking outside to take out the trash and get my car started so I could head off to school and I found this package in my drive way. I saw the note that was on it and it said, _Bring to the Las Vegas Crime Lab_," the young man informed. He then proceeded with his explanation, though in his voice, there was an air of self-pride, proud of him self for what he was going to say next. "I also tried to touch the box as little as possible so not to disturb the evidence."

When he said this, Catherine caught on to the confidence and boast in his voice, and it was then that she noticed the yellow cleaning gloves on his hands. The gloves did raise a slight suspicion though; was he truly trying not to disturb the box, or could he be an accomplice? "How did you know not to touch the box with your bare hands?"

"Oh, I watch a lot of crime shows; I'm interested in the whole forensics thing? Also, during the summer, I was talking with this one CSI. My dad had a… run in with the law, I guess you could say, and yeah, I was questioned by a CSI, and after, we just started talking. I asked him a few questions about being a CSI, and he told me that it was nothing like how it is on TV, which I already knew; my mom won't stop emphasizing that point."

With this job, Nick knew not to judge people, for most of the time, they proved to be misleading. He had judged Andrew, picking him for a smug teenager who lived in the air that he knew everything and would live up the reputation to his appearance, a punk jerk. But he was wrong yet again. Nick was surprised by the humbleness of the young boy, and greatly took to the likeness in his interest in forensics. Getting back to the case and the package though, he directed another question at Andrew. "So after you found the package, what did you do?"

"I went inside my house and grabbed a pair of my moms cleaning gloves and put them on, so not to mess up possible fingerprints or trace, and I picked up the package and put it in my car. I then brought it here and now I am talking to you guys," he honestly explained.

There was something that caught Catherine's attention in Andrew's story, and that was when he mentioned his father. Considering every possible explanation for Greg's kidnapping, she wondered if it had something to do with his father. "Andrew, I need to ask you a few questions about your father. What was his name and do you by any chance remember the CSI who was working the case?"

"My father's name is Samuel Billium and I remember the CSI I talked to, but not his name. I also took a tour of the crime lab during the summer, after my father was arrested, and I remember seeing him again so yeah, I'm pretty sure he works here, so maybe you could talk to him."

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall, skinny, short and somewhat spiky hair… Oh, and I remember that he like Marilyn Manson. We were talking about him for a while. Just curious, do you know if he's going to his concert tonight, the one in the middle of the desert? Because if he's not, then you should tell him about it so he can get tickets; its one night only."

With just the basic description alone, Nick knew it was Greg, but then he had to mention the Marilyn Manson concert. "He had tickets to the concert," Nick blandly informed the boy so to answer his question, but not give away the devastating information that he unfortunately wouldn't be going.

"So that's it, the package was just left in your drive way, and you saw it and brought it here" affirmed Catherine one last time.

Andrew once again assured the two CSI's and responded, "Yep. Well, the package did say to bring to the Las Vegas Crime Lab and hell, that's you guys, so yeah."

Catherine looked at Brass, at the assurance that this young man was telling the truth then looked back at Andrew. "Andrew, if you don't mind, we would like to ask you a few more questions, and get your fingerprints and a sample of your DNA."

Andrew was silent for a second. Though he knew the crime shows that he loved were staged, he finally believed the emotion that the actors conveyed when asked for their DNA. He wasn't upset, more so curious, but still considered if they thought he was a suspect. "I don't know if I should be giving you my fingerprints and DNA. Won't it then get put into a system?"

"No, we're just going to use it for this investigation. The package could have been left at your house for a reason, and it could have something to do with your father, we're not sure. But at our crime scene, there was unidentified blood, and you know how alleles work right with DNA?"

Andrew nodded his head; he was always fascinated with the DNA in his crime shows. "I understand the basic concept of it. Like if there are 7 to 13 alleles in common, then there is a match to a family member."

"Correct, so if your DNA shares the same alleles with our unknown blood, then our case could be connected to your father."

"But my father is in prison, so why would he be involved?"

"We're not sure right now, but the CSI you described, Greg Sanders, he is in trouble and we need to examine all possibilities in this investigation."

Hearing his name, Andrew immediately recognized it, but then he remembered seeing it somewhere recently. Looking at the package on the counter, he saw on the return address, there wasn't an address, but a name. The name was Greg Sanders. "Wait, so one of your guys is in trouble? Is he okay?"

"We're still trying to figure that out right now, but your DNA could help us to see if you father is connected to all of this.

"And what about my fingerprints? Why do you need those?"

"I know you said that you wore gloves while handling the package, but it's just to be safe. It's so we can identify that print and eliminate you as a suspect."

"And I don't need a lawyer for any of this right?"

"Well it's your right to one, but you've proclaimed your innocence so you're not a suspect right now. We can get a warrant if you say no, but we don't have probably cause to get one, so then there isn't much that we can do that would involve you. I will say though, it would be a huge help in our investigation right now if you would give us your DNA."

"So it could be as simple as there isn't a DNA match, or it could open up a whole new door to you investigation."

"Yes, and no mater what, match or not, it's still going to help us. It will let us know if we're heading in the right direction for this investigation."

Andrew was silent for a second, but then quickly replied, "Yeah, sure, its fine. I have nothing to hide and I want to help. But can I ask that it doesn't take long, I have to get to school to get a grade up of mine today or my mom won't let me go to that concert tonight, and I REFUSE to miss it" voiced Andrew.

"It won't take long at all" Catherine assured with a smile on her face. This was a new lead, whether it was a dead end or an open door, it would give them answers.

"Alright, well you can come with me right now Andrew and we'll get your fingerprints done and DNA," said Brass as he started to lead the young man away from the front desk.

Andrew shook his head and began to follow Brass down to the hall to the police department.

With Andrew now being taken care of, it was time to attend to their other new lead. "Well, we should go and get this processed now," Catherine said, talking about the package. "Brass will get Andrews DNA and fingerprints and we'll have Wendy run Andrews DNA against the unknown blood from the crime scene."

Nick slipped on a pair of latex gloves and picked up the light package. "There isn't a whole lot in here; lets hope it leads us some where though."

Nick and Catherine walked down the hall and entered the layout room and placed the package down on the glowing table. "Should we process the box now or later, or should we just focus on what's inside of the box for right now?" Nick asked Catherine for her preferred order.

"Well incase there is something important, we should start with the packages contents," she suggested. Doing so, Nick then picked up a pair of scissors and cut along the clear tape that was sealing the boxes potential evidence.

When the tape was cut, Nick opened the two flaps to the box, and immediately closed his eyes to the disbelief of what he was looking at. With his gloved hands, he reached his hand inside of the box and took out the first item on top; it was Greg's vest. He gulped as he read the white stitching the read the name Sanders.

Catherine had fallowed in Nick's action and reached into the box and pulled out its second content. This one was a visual, and a disturbing one at that. The picture had reminded her of the one that she saw of Lindsay when he was kidnapped; that was why she found it so upsetting. Someone who was so close to her heart looking so helpless and terrified and she couldn't do anything to help them.

Nick saw her fixed attention on what looked to be a Polaroid picture. Wanting to know what was causing the worry in her eyes, he questioned her. "Catherine, what is it?"

"It's an image of Greg" she said blankly said.

The deadness in her voice meant that she was worried, which began to worry Nick. "Well how does he look?" Nick asked with panic in his voice.

Catherine had to bat her eyes away quickly so to remove the forming tears from her ducts. She then placed the picture face down on the table and slid it over to Nick. She was curious but scared to see how Nick would react to the disturbing image of their close friend.

Nick reached over and picked up the picture from the table and looked at the Polaroid. Greg had only been missing 6 hours, and he was shocked to see the torment that he had already seemed to endure.

The image showed Greg, bound to a chair with his arms tightly pulled behind him and his legs were tied as well. His vest had also been taken off, but his shirt had hid his beatings that Greg had already endured against his chest. Nick could tell that he had been kicked here due to a faded impression of a workman's boot. His face though gave the visual of his beatings though. Bruises were already covering the sides of his face, and there was a nasty one above his temple had broken his skin and he was bleeding. His nose was also red around the rim; even if he hadn't had a full-blown bloody nose yet, it still showed the abuse and that he was bleeding. He was also tightly gagged with what looked to be duct tape wrapped around his head, which looked to be very discomforting; it probably limited his breathing too. Finally, there was a knife firmly pressed to his throat, placed right below his Adam's apple; this would also contribute to a breathing problem. Greg looked like shit, for lack of a better term in his own mind, but he still looked like he was hanging in there. But the look that completely changed the whole appearance of the picture, what set in everything that Greg was feeling, his hurt, pain, and fear; it was his eyes. The look in his eyes gave the emotion to the picture, and put the guilt in Nick's conscience.

Nick was absolutely shocked at the picture before him. There was a mix of emotions building up inside of him, and with the vast variety, he didn't fully know how to react. Looking at that picture, the only thing that was really running through his mind, was the though that he could have prevented it. It truly was a ghastly vision of Greg, and when the full realization kicked in; his hoarded rage had finally begun to boil over.

Catherine had been watching Nick's reaction to the picture of Greg. She knew that Nick was having a hard time already with this case, due to the fact that he was putting the blame on himself. But as he was looking at the image, she saw it when his mind full processed the picture, and she could see it in his eyes when his sanity was over taken.

Nick's anger that was building up inside of him was turning into rage, and he finally thought of a way to take out that ire. Without a word, he left the layout room and stormed down to find an available interrogation room. On finding one, Nick walked in, slammed the door behind him, and locked the door into place.

In the room sat three chairs and a table; he stormed over to the first chair, picked it up and threw it up against the concrete wall. He was infuriated! He then flipped over the table and then picked up the other chair and threw it at the door. And with the final chair, he kicked it over, and kicked it, and kicked it again. The wrath leaving his body, with nothing else to do, he backed up into a wall, and yelled as loud as his vocal cords would carry it.

Catherine had fallowed Nick to the interrogation room and had watched his tantrum take place. She had never scene Nick like this before, but she knew how furious and scared he was. Being a victim himself, she knew that working this case would already get to him, but then adding the fact that it's a friend who was taken and that he felt like he could have done more to save him; all odds were viciously stacked against him, and this was the way he chose to release his built stress. She was scared though. She hadn't immediately fallowed behind Nick when he left the layout room. She stayed back for a second and looked to see if there were anymore contents in the box, and there were. It was a CD, and fearing for what it might be, she was scared that another blow up like this one would occur. This was true anger that Nick was displaying, and knowing Nick to never be a violent person, the thought of him doing this again truly scared her.

Watching Nick's episode though, she couldn't help but think back to when he was kidnapped and the anger Warrick had displayed. He was furious too and having the hardest time coping with the fact that Nick had been kidnapped, and how it could have just as easily happened to him. Catherine also considered if this was another thought that was on Nick's mind, imagining the fear of being kidnapped again.

Anger still coursing through his veins, Nick threw one of the chairs again, and then kicked the other one with all of his remaining force that he could shed. The energy and emotion that he had just spent on his anger was finally spent. His body had felt weak, his muscles were shaky and he felt tired; he felt like a kid who just had a temper tantrum and now needed a nap. Walking over to a wall, he placed his back up against it and slid down the length of the wall till he was sitting on the floor.

Seeing that Nick was finally calming down, she decided to give him a moment to himself, knowing that he probably just needed to be alone right now.

Langston had just arrived back from his crime scene – the rape victim he was working with Catherine – and upon arriving, he saw Nick storming through the halls of the lab and toward an interrogation room. Catherine was then following behind him, but he saw her stop at the double-sided mirror. Curious as to what was going on, he walked over toward her, but when he saw Nick throwing the chairs throughout the small interrogation room, he decided to just wait a second and watch from the background; not yet make his presence known. When Nick had calmed down though, he finally approached Catherine.

"What's going on with Nick Catherine?" he asked, shocked and confused as to why Nick was resorting to such violent behavior.

Catherine turned to see Langston standing next to her. She didn't know if he had scene Nick's explosion, but due to the worry in his voice, she figured that he had. She then remembered that Langston hadn't been informed yet of what was going on with Greg. "So I'm not working the rape case with you anymore, because at Nick and Greg's crime scene something happened. Greg was kidnapped about 6 hours ago Ray."

Langston's initial reaction was shocked. He was informed that he would now be working his rape case by himself now, but was never given a reason as to why. He now had his answer. "Was he taken from the crime scene?"

"Yes. Nick and Greg both thought the original crime scene was a fake. Now, we think that it was staged so that the kidnappers could grab Greg," she explained.

"What about their Officer? He was at the scene right?"

"He was, but he left. Turns out, it was apart of the kidnappers plan, to lure away the officer so that they could grab him."

"Have you heard from Greg yet or the kidnappers?"

"We actually just got a package from them. Greg's vest was in it… a… disturbing picture… of him, and I think that this could possible be a video." She then showed Langston the plastic case with the disk inside of it.

"Well do you think Nick is going to be okay?" he asked, with a genuine concern for his co-worker and friend.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Nick's just been really stressed these past few hours. He saw Greg get kidnapped and tried to stop them, but he couldn't, so he feels to blame for his kidnapping. Then we just got this package and when he saw the picture of Greg, I think he felt like he was looking at what he could have prevented. With everything just piling up on him, he just couldn't take the stress and had to release it."

"You don't think his way was a little extreme though?"

She had to admit, there were other ways that he could have dealt with his frustration, but she understood where his anger was coming from, and she figured that there were worse ways. "Maybe it's a little extreme; but as long as he's not hurting anyone, then I don't really care."

"And you said that this was due to a picture?"

"Yes," she admitted again.

"Well what is he going to be like if that disk in you hand is in fact a video? Do you think he's going to be able to handle a video?" Langston reasoned.

Catherine took another heavy breath. Nick's tantrum happened over a picture, and there was a possibility that they were holding a video that will probably be of Greg. She only feared what would happen after Nick saw this, and she then questioned if he should see it.

Not knowing what to say to Langston, she started a new conversation, "Has Nick or anyone told you what happened to him a few years ago?"

Langston was quiet for a second, thinking back on everything that he knew about Nick. "I'm not sure. Why, what happened?"

"You haven't heard about the time when Nick was kidnapped?"

Langston seemed very surprised at what he was hearing, "No, he never told me. When did it happen?"

Catherine sighed, "About 5 years ago, he was kidnapped from a fake crime scene as well, and he was buried alive."

Langston was speechless.

"I think that's why he is taking it so hard, because he knows the feeling of being kidnapped. How terrifying the feeling is, and being so close to death" said Catherine with much sorrow in her voice. "Also, with being a victim, he knows the horrors. Having then to see your best friend kidnapped before your eyes, and even though you tried to save him, you didn't. I'm guessing that Nick feels as if he failed Greg. And then with the picture, he was looking at what he thought he could have prevented."

Silence quickly grew between the two CSI's. Catherine decided that she was going to wait for Nick, but on a second look at the video that she was holding, it reminded her that Greg doesn't have all day; he has his life at stake. Catherine then pushed down the button to talk to Nick in the other room.

"Nicky. Listen I know this is hard for you, it's hard for both of us, but Greg needs you right now okay. Come out when you're ready to but please don't be too long. We have one more thing that we need to look at and I'm gonna wait for you alright. This is our case Nick, and we're going to find him," Catherine spoke with a very calm and reassuring voice.

Listening to her every word, it reminded Nick of the reality of this situation. Nick looked up at the mirror, thinking that he was going to meet the face of his friend, but instead he met his own reflection in the double-sided glass. Staring at him self, he knew that this was a moment of weakness for him, but right now, he needed to be strong and not give up; not let Greg down. Nick stood up off the floor and left the trashed interrogation room and turning the corner, he saw Catherine. He walked up to her and gave her a hug, feeling greatful for having such a great and caring friend, someone who was there for him. "Thanks Catherine."

"Of course Nick," she said with a genuine voice.

Breaking away from her hug, he looked down at her hands, and saw a plastic case with a disk inside. He dreaded that the humble moment was over due to another piece of disturbing evidence. He knew that no matter what it was though, he couldn't have another blow up like what just happened, or else he would be taken off the case. "Catherine, what's the disk in you hand?"

"I'm not sure right now, but I was going to take it down to Archie right now so he could tell us." She didn't want to say that she thought it was a video just yet, for incase if it wasn't then there was no need for Nick to get upset again.

Nick took the disk from her hands and was already struggling to hold his composure. Seeing the picture was obviously hard enough, but this disk in his hands, he had a strong feeling that it was going to be a video. The disk was also mocking him, its title reading _Leggo My Greggo_, the nickname that he started and the line that he knew introduced it. The familiar words, the recognizable name; it was forming knots in his stomach.

"Well let's head down to the A/V lab now, see what Archie can figure out," she said, not wanting to waste anymore time.

"Catherine, do you think it could be a video?" he questioned her. He had a feeling that it was, but wanted a second opinion, though hoping for a more positive one.

She still didn't want to tell him what she truly though, so to deny him her answer again, she played an innocent oblivion. "I'm not sure right now."

"What are we going to do if it is?"

This question made him sound like a coward, which was starting to irritate Catherine. She figured that if Nick had the balls to trash an interrogation room - something that she knew was going to piss of Ecklie when he found out - then he should have the balls to watch a video of Greg. Sure as hell, she didn't want to watch it either, god only knows what Greg's kidnappers could do to him, but still, she was going to suck it up if it meant that it could help him. "Well, we're going to watch it, and then process it. If it is a video, then this could be a solid piece of evidence right here. The kidnappers could state their demands so something else. If this video is going to help us, then we need to make the most of it Nick. If anything happens to him, as hard as it is for us to watch, Greg actually has to endure it. If watching that video is going to help him, then we're sucking it up. I just want him back Nick."

Her tone was assertive, and Nick knew it was the time to stop moping around. She made a valid point as well; as hard as it would be for him to watch it, Greg was suffering through it. Having nothing to really say in return, he simply nodded his head, stating that he understood her, and then the two of them started walking down the hall to the A/V lab.

Entering the A/V lab, they saw Archie sitting at his desk and he was quickly going through some footage of what looked to be the strip. He seemed to be thoroughly processing this at the moment, and Catherine was worried that he would be too focused on this to take a look at the disk for them at the moment.

"Hey Archie," both Nick and Catherine greeted as they entered the lab.

"Hey guys. How your case with Greg going," Archie asked. News traveled fast throughout the lab, so it didn't take long for him, or any of the other techs, to hear about what happened to Greg.

"We actually have something that we need you to take a look at, so if your not busy at the moment," Nick asked, but his voice was trying to persuade him.

"Actually, Brass had the traffic cameras from the strip sent over to me from the time that Greg was taken so I could take a look at them and try to find the black van that he was taken in," Archie announced matter-of-factly.

"That's great. Have you found any vans yet?"

"I've found about four actually, three heading north and one south," he admitted. He felt bad though, thinking that there were now four different possibilities of what direction Greg could have been taken in.

Catherine could hear the slight dismay in Archie's voice, but she then remembered the van that she had pulled up to earlier. "Hey Arch, pull up the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo and go to the time around 12:45."

Archie did as Catherine asked and went to the intersection that she requested. After fast forwarding a bit, Catherine saw a familiar sight; her car. "Archie stop!" she quickly ordered so not to miss the frame. "Alright, now can you zoom in on the license plate for the car on the left?" she then asked him.

When Archie did so, Catherine immediately recognized her license plate. "That's my car."

"And right next to one of the black vans," Archie added.

Nick finally caught on to what Catherine was doing. "Wait, so when you said that you thought you pulled up next to the van that Greg could have been in, then that's the van that's right next to you?" Nick said with a smile on his face.

"Okay now zoom in on the plate on the van," Catherine instructed, and as Archie did so, crystal clear, there was a license plate. Nick was already one step ahead, and upon seeing the plate, already with the list for finding motor vehicles, he started to search of the owner of the car 646-LMB. The search engine worked its magic, and in seconds, the registration for the Black E-150 Chevy came up. It wasn't the news he was hoping for though. "It says here that the van was stolen two night's ago," he said with a defeatist attitude.

The unfortunate information had already dismayed Catherine as well, but still, there was potential to get some answers. "Well where was the van taken from? We could have Brass or a Uni go to the house and get a statement from them," she suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Nick stated.

"Well, I never paged you guys to come here, so I'm guess that you have something else for me," Archie said, wanting to move along.

"We do Arch" Nick said as he handed the lab tech the disk.

As Archie took the disk from Nick's hands, he read the title of mockery written on the sick. "It's about Greg?" he quietly stated more then asked.

"Yeah," Nick responded.

"And we think it's a video, but I guess we'll find that out" she then added to Nick's surprise. He realized that she thought it was a video this whole time.

With the CD in his hands, he removed it from its case and placed it into his computer. IT took only a couple seconds to load, and when it did, a small box popped up and asked if her wanted to play the DVD. It was in fact a video. Archie clicked yes, enlarged the video, and waited for the show they would all soon dread to begin.

* * *

Was this ending a cliff hanger? I think it was… or is it more so an anticipation? Well, whatevo. I hoped you guys liked chapter 6 :D! The dialogue was fun to write for this chapter… I don't know why but it was. Yeah, I think this one was a better Nick and Catherine chapter then chapter 4.

So yeah… now off to my thanks and appreciations :D!

For favoriting, thank you to Nimue Tsuki.

For alerting, thanks to Nimue Tsuki, MADasHATTER, JoyScott13, and Ptitenath92.

And for my reviewers, thank you crimescenelover, Nimue Tsuki, The Walking Chill Pill (WMG), and JodsRaine. I love getting reviews from you guys.

WMG: love that you liked my whole thing with the chair and the chapter :D!

Raine: TRUST ME… Cal… he get's worse :O!

Nimue Tsuki: I'm really sorry about your unfortunate location problem for A Kiss Before Frying. It really was a great episode. You should try and find it on the internet. I think The Walking Chill Pill could direct you to one. She doesn't live in the US either, but that didn't stop her from watching it ha ha. But yeah, it really was an awesome episode.


	7. Lights, Camera, Pain

So, my last chapter I got up in 3 days, and this one took me 3 weeks. Sorry for the wait, but I'm sure that every writer has a point where they just CANNOT convey their thoughts into words. Well, that was my case.

So yeah, here is chapter 7, and yeah… this one… some fair warnings… there is some pretty expressive swearing, some violence, and some fairly graphic visuals for the imagination. I'm actually now changing my story from T to M.

Other then that, lots of Greg :) Actually, I should probably point this out; even though I am sure you could have figured it out. As far as the perspective/point of view of this chapter, I couldn't really decide which one I wanted to follow with more, so I kinda have both. It starts off as Nick and Catherine watching it, but then it switches over to Greg, and at the ending, its Nick and Catherine again. So yeah, I just wanted to clear that up just in case.

So yeah, I guess that's it… enough of me talking, enjoy chapter 7.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Lights, Camera, Pain **

The opening view was only of a black screen. Thought it looked like the video had yet to begin, the strained and coursed breathing in the background stated that it had started. It was but a few seconds of irregular heavy breathing before a second presence was heard through the darkness.

"Dear Las Vegas Crime Lab. I have heard that your beloved CSI, Greg Sanders, has been kidnapped." The voice was covered with fake sorrow and mockery.

The harsh breathing was then interrupted, only to be replaced with a quick gasp and a pained groan.

"Well I am pleased to say, I know who has kidnapped him," the disturbing play in the unknown voice continued.

The voice had gone silent, which made the breathing clearly heard again. Its pace was increasing, sounding if it could be compared to hyperventilating; it was without a doubt panicked. But the breathing was disturbed yet again; replaced with time with a muffled and fearful cry and an attempt to choke back a sob.

"So without further ado, I give you, CSI Greg Sanders."

The darkness turned to light, and just as the camera lenses took surprise to the sudden change of light, so did everyone else viewing the video. The black had turned to a hazy white light, disturbing everyone's vision for a second due to the bright and unexpected exposure. But as the camera lenses adjusted and took the form of the subject it was pointed at, the view in front of all of them surprised them a hell of a lot more than the surprise of the light could ever begin to measure up to.

Greg was sitting in a chair, bound to it with his arms behind him and his legs to the posts. Cuts and bruises were surrounded his face, he was still gagged, and a knife was firmly pressed to his neck by what now could be scene was a man in a black ski mask. But the most evident feature yet again was his eyes; they were his voice that was restricted from him, and they bluntly expressed his fear.

Both Nick and Catherine did see the similar features to the picture that they were sent, and it was at this time that there was a quick flash of light. Being a CSI and a key part of this job involves taking pictures, the sound and flash of a camera become all too familiar to them. They could both comfortable assume that the kidnappers had just taken a picture of Greg, and it was the picture that they had sent to them in the package.

Setting their focus back on Greg, his expression was obvious that he was completely terrified of having a knife held so firmly to his neck. The knife began to glide along the curve of his Adam's apple, which had shown to be immensely uncomfortable to Greg. He began to stretch out his neck and proceeded to resists him self from swallowing, for the feeling of the knife digging into his throat every time he gulped, it forced a shiver up his spine; he thought that the knife could easily slice his neck open and kill him.

Cal enjoyed seeing his captive's subtle movements of fear. Knowing the discomfort the simple weapon was making Greg feel brought a smug smile to Cal's face. The knife felt like a fun little toy, and he liked playing with it. Further taunting Greg, Cal started to glide the tip of the knife up the length of his craned neck, pressing the knife into his skin to inflict discomfort, but not enough to break it. As he was running the sharp tip slowly up his neck though, it began to give a Cal a sensational feeling. With Greg's strained breathing and being able to feel his skin through the subtle quiver in the blade; Greg's mockery before was beginning to seem true, for he was almost getting off on his captive's fear.

Loving his play, Cal continued his taunting actions. The knife had worked its way up Greg's strained and bruised neck and began to trace the shape of his jaw. Moving the weapon up to the tape, he started to glide the sharp tip along the slick gag. "Come on Greg, smile pretty for the camera," Cal mocked with a sinful laugh. With a slick motion, he then slid the knife back down under Greg's jaw and roughly pressed the knife into Greg's neck even further, this time, not shy to break the skin.

Greg was trying to hold his composer while have the knife taunting its way around his exposed neck, but when he felt the sting on the open wound, a whimper slid past his vocal cords and muffled against the tape. Greg was just painfully anticipating the moment when Cal would take the knife and simply finish him off.

"Oh wait, you can't smile now can you Greg. Well, you want me to take this thing off your face" Cal grimly asked.

When Cal asked this, Greg's body had substantially relaxed. He was surprised yet confused at what he was being asked, but he did want the sticky restriction off his face. Greg began to shake his head, though it was subtle; in fact, barely noticeable. He knew not to ignore Cal and no mater what circumstances, whether it was a gag, a knife to the throat, or both, he had to answer him. And obeying Cal proved to reap a positive benefit; the knife was removed from his neck, and Greg let out a slow sigh of relief.

His toy having to be put aside for now, it still did not render Cal's ability to mess with Greg. Toying with his captive again, he began gliding his fingers along the smooth silver tape and pulling at its sides, knowing that it was agitate him.

And Cal's thoughts proved correct, had Greg known it. He was quickly becoming annoyed with his captors play. The promise of this sticky and discomforting silencer being removed from his mouth, he didn't want the taunting foreplay before the action, he just wanted it off. Greg thrashed his head away from Cal's pawing fingers, but this wasn't a rewarding action on his part.

It was evident to Cal that the knife was keeping Greg's actions in check, but now with the violent weapon aside, it brought back his old cocky retorts. Needing to punish Greg for his ignorant actions, Cal inflicted a pull force punch to the side of Greg's face.

The strength and force behind the heavy punch caused Greg's vision to become hazy and filled with black spots. Another vindictive blow to his bruised face, it began to make Greg's head feel heavy and his thoughts felt sluggish drawn out. Though as his head was hanging there is its blank state, he started to think of the viewers of this video. He didn't want Nick and Catherine to worry about him and he didn't want to have his suffering pain translate through the lenses. Greg took in a deep breath, though in the irony of his thoughts, taking in the breath made him wince at the pain as his expanding lungs pressed against his bruised and breaking ribs. He ignored the pain though, lifting his head back up and he sat back up in the chair, pretending that the throbbing punch to the side of his face never happened.

Cal was surprised to see Greg recover from the punch that he knew would issue a dulling pain, but he didn't really care. Returning to his task at hand, with the knife in his hands again, he began to cut the tape from Greg's neck. He cut a straight line downward, splitting the gripping adhesive, and in one quick, continuous motion, without warning or hesitation, Cal pulled the tape off the back of Greg's neck and ripped it off his mouth.

Greg wasn't shy to express the burning pain that he felt once the tape was ripped from his face. He let out a harsh yell once the seal was removed from his lips, though once the yell passed; Greg immediately started to question Cal. "What the hell do you want from me? What the hell have I done to you? Why are you doing this?" Greg desperately pleaded. All he wanted was a simple answer as to why. Right now, the beatings, the torment, the threats; they were all against him, an innocent person. He just wanted something to at least blame the senseless torture he was suffering through on.

Cal heard the desperation in his voice, but like before, he denied him the answer. Instead, Cal just brought in another punch to the side of Greg's face, laughing with pride, loving the control he possessed.

The dull throb from earlier was now hammering against his skull. Somehow sustaining the brutal beatings to his head, the ignored pain was now catching up to him. The heavy pulsate that resounded his head was starting to take over his concentration. He wanted to show Nick and Catherine that he was strong and that he could endure the pain, but the overpowering headache made him drop his head again, and he quietly sat there, grimacing at the pain.

Cal was scrutinizing Greg as if he was a measly, insignificant bug. He could feel his prisoner's pain, and he liked knowing that he caused it. But in his careless sense, to him, his captive was only merely hurt. "You know, Greggo here, I think he's holding up pretty well" he simply spoke, but there was a mock incentive hidden underneath.

Greg let out a small chuckle on the inside, once again the irony of his thoughts messing with him. Choosing to give up on his trial to act strong, and her Cal was saying that he was holding up. Though the absent minded simplicity of his clouded thoughts were once again interrupted with pain as he felt his roots ripping his head back again.

The reprieve that he knew Greg wanted, he wouldn't offer it to him. Cal had once again clamped his hand around the think roots of Greg's hair and viciously jerked back; this was a crude gesture that he was becoming rather fond of. "But I think it's because he doesn't want you guys to see how much pain he is in," Cal continued, the mock in his voice now coming through.

Cal's hand finally released Greg's hair but then cupped his chin in his hand so that Greg would still be looking up at him. "He is merely, sucking it up," his mock continued. Saying these last three words though, he spoke them with extreme emphasis and enunciation, which also caused him to spit on Greg as well.

Greg was disgusted, degraded, and above all fed up with Cal's taunting intentions. Cal's hand still cupping his chin, Greg jerked his head away from Cal's touch, and in return for Cal intentionally spitting on him, Greg did the same as well and spit on Cal's shoe.

Another ignorant action resorted in another brutal beating. Cal was as well as getting fed up with Greg and his cockiness. He had a pride in him that he refused to let go, but unfortunately for him, it was only further hurting him. As punishment for spitting on his shoe, Cal brought his fist back and sent another blow to Greg tender stomach.

Greg was taken back once again by the strength behind the punch to his stomach. As a reaction to the pain, Greg tried to double over, but his restrains wouldn't allow it. But as a reaction to the forceful pressure against his gut, his stomach started to lurch and he could feel the bile and blood working its way up his esophagus. Turning his head to his side, he relieved the toxic acid and blood from his body and on to the floor.

Cal laughed at the reaction that he caused out of Greg, and as a smug gesture, he started slapping Greg back as he sat there, hunched over, and straining his arms, _helping _him to further remove the acidic bile from his system. Once he was done though, Cal ripped his head back by his roots again and smugly spoke, "Awww, come on Greggy, keep your chin up. You don't want to look weak in front of your pals now do you?"

Cal let go of his grip on Greg's hair again and with the same hand, he slid his arm down and had it hang off of Greg's shoulder. This gesture had easily aggravated Greg. Beating the shit out of him and purposefully messing with him, it bothered him when Cal had rested his arm on his shoulder; it was a pal gesture.

Cal knew his close presence was bothering his captive, which was one of the reasons why he had his arm hanging off of him, but the main reason was so that he could have a firm hold on Greg, because he would need to for what he was going to do next. Cal leaned forward and harshly whispered in Greg's ear with hot breath that just slithered down his ear drum, "You know; I can inflict so much pain on you, that by the time this is all over, you will be pleading and begging for death." And while he was saying this, he was taking his knife and twisting the tip into Greg's right collarbone.

As Cal began to do this, Greg was trying to hold back from yelling so not to give Cal the satisfaction of his hurt. But it truly was agonizing. The burning pain that was surrounding his now deep, open wound was becoming so intense that a tear started to form in his eye. He was still determined to refrain himself from yelling, but with every twist that was bringing the knife deeper into his shoulder, deforming and ripping his skin and muscles, his strained grunts and groans from the sharp pain weren't enough, and he finally gave in. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE STOP, PLEASE!" he screamed, desperate for a reprieve from this agonizing torture.

Cal was satisfied when Greg submitted to the anguish and now done with the deed; he viciously pulled the knife out of Greg's bleeding shoulder.

The ferocity Cal used to pull out the knife made Greg violently flinch at the harsh pain. Although it was a release, it still didn't make his bleeding wound fell any better. Greg finally looked at his mutilated shoulder, but now seeing the wound, it issued a whole new meaning of pain. His shirt was tattered making his bleeding skin perfectly visible, but the wound was hard to define. To him, all it looked like was a gushing red hole, but just seeing it and his brain now fully comprehending what was the cause of the pain he just endured, it made the wound seem a hundred times worse.

Cal was no longer kneeling next to Greg, but he was still by his side. When Cal pulled the knife out of Greg's shoulder, he studied it and his victim's blood. Greg had noticed Cal's disturbing intrigue with the bloody knife, and it was enough to break his attention from his gushing wound. It was then, to his disgust, that he saw Cal lick the knife, tasting his blood. Greg once again felt the bile begin to rise in his throat again, but he didn't want to anger Cal, so to his own disgust, he forced himself to swallow the acid.

His disgusting action triggered a reaction out of Greg that Cal was all too pleased with. He was never the person who took pleasure out of seeing others misery, but this was different. Having the control and the power and seeing his captive submit to him, it almost seemed like euphoria; a new realm to discover. And what better victim than the innocent Greg Sanders. He simply smiled at his cruel and sadistic thoughts.

The knife wound that he had just inflicted was still bleeding pretty badly as Cal's attention became fixed upon it again. He only wanted Greg to suffer, he didn't want to kill him, or at least he didn't want to kill him yet. He knew to stop the bleeding, he would have to tend to it, but he wasn't going to perform an easy treatment. With the knife still in his hands, he walked over to the side, and out of view of the camera, and began preparing the knife.

Greg hadn't paid much, if any attention to Cal after he licked his blood off the knife; he didn't want to look at his air of disgust. Though once again, Greg was intrigued when Cal had walked off to the side of the room and over to a couple work benches. Greg was attentively watching, trying to get a glimpse of his next possible torture device, but as soon as he saw the blue and yellow flicker of a flame, he immediately began to panic. All it took was the sight of the flame, and when he saw it he thought of burns, and thinking of burns, it brought his thoughts back to his lab explosion. Though it had happened years ago, he could still perfectly remember it; the smell of burning plastic, the raining glass, the numb yet enflamed pain covering his neck and back. Being a victim of only a 2nd degree burn, he had since the explosion taken precaution when around fire, refusing to have to suffer through the agony of burnt flesh ever again. With the flickering flame in the madman's hands, Greg feared that this would be an old trauma that he would have to relive.

Though he was helpless and unable to save him self from the grueling pain that he knew would come, Greg was still trying to think of a way that he could help himself. Seeming that Cal was preoccupied with the fire and Mark's gaze was fixed and Cal as well, Greg took his opportunity to try and give Nick and Catherine some means of help. Looking straight at the camera, he calmly mouthed the words, "Two kidnappers." He felt that this wasn't enough though to go off of. Yes, they would know how many people they were dealing with, but it still wouldn't be anything to help find him. Greg was trying to think of some significant features of the house, but he remembered his thoughts regarding this conformist neighborhood. But did remember catching a quick glimpse of the house's number, and he figured that he could use this to his advantage. He quickly checked to see if Cal and Mark were still preoccupied, and looking into the camera again, he mouthed, "Address, 161-"

"HEY! What are you doing? What are you saying?" Mark yelled at Greg after seeing his firm stare that he held with the camera and his moving lips.

His pride that he held within him self was gone; his confidence plummeted. As Greg's worried eyes looked up at Mark and as he saw the anger in them, he knew he was in deep shit now. His attention that was fixed on Mark switched over to Cal when he saw him storming over toward him, with the blow torch in his hands. His fear began to escalate, his breathing rapidly increasing and he felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. As a reaction to the fear of Cal's approaching presence, Greg started to lean his body as far to his right as possible, trying to get away from Cal. It was a useless gesture, but it was really all that he could do.

Cal noticed Greg leaning away from him, his pathetic trail to distance himself, but it gave Cal a creative and cruel idea. Cal lifted up his foot and shoved his foot up against the side of the chair. With Greg's weight all shifted to one side and with the force that Cal used to push over the chair, it was sent plummeting to the ground with in seconds.

As Greg slammed against the hard concrete floor, he let out a loud exclaim. He had landed on his right side, and not only did his arm feel completely crushed, but it also viciously disturbed the wound in his shoulder. This wasn't even the punishment that he was about to receive.

As Mark removed the camera and fixed the view back on Greg, Cal then entered the view. Cal kneeled down on his knee and reached his hand forward so that he could cup Greg's chin again; he wanted his captive to be able to look at him and his piercing eyes. "What did you say into the camera?" Cal calmly asked.

Greg knew that if he told Cal the truth that he would be in a world of hurt. Merely mentioning the fact that he tried to tell them his address, well, with Cal holding the blow torch, be didn't even want to imagine what his punishment would be. Greg figured that it would probably be in his best intention to lie. "I-I told them, t-to please help me," he stuttered out as his eye caught sight of Cal twiddling with the small blow torch. He felt relieved though once he got the lie out and got away with it too.

But a single second later, Mark flat out said, "He's lying."

Never being one to lie, the fact that Mark had caught him, it put Greg into a vicious sweat. He then looked at Cal with eyes that pleaded forgiveness.

Cal saw the helplessness in Greg's eyes, and knew that he had been lying. He looked up at Mark, who returned the knowledgeable glance to him, and then looked back down at Greg; he was refusing to look at him. Cal was getting fed up with all the crap that Greg was pulling. He honestly hadn't expected Greg to have already been this banged up this early into his whole plan of revenge. But in his defense, a lot of Greg's bruises were due to his own stubborn pride. And once again, he had to punish Greg for his actions. Cal stood up, and brought in a powerful kick to Greg's stomach, and then another, and then another, and then one final kick to his chest.

When Cal finally stopped kicking him, Greg lied there on the floor, completely numb. The pain that was consuming his chest was so outrageous that breathing was a forgotten habit, and the concentration to breath seemed like a near impossible task. His chest was screaming as well and Greg had assumed that Cal had probably broken one of his ribs. If that was the case, then it could explain the metallic taste that was filling his mouth and the oozing blood slowly dripping onto the floor. Feeling everything, yet feeling nothing, Greg tried to make his mind go blank, trying to be invisible, and disappear from this nightmare. It was then, in his absent-minded state, the ability to breathe casually returned. His breathing was course and wheezy, but he didn't care, all that he cared about was that he could breath.

Seeing Greg being able to breathe again, Cal knelt back down and grabbed a hold of Greg's hair yet again and lifted up his head, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Now, let's try this again. What did you say to your CSI buddies?" he firmly questioned, his voice threatening, demanding an answer.

Greg glanced at Cal with weak and regretful eyes. He knew that this was going to be a stupid move on his part, but he still was not going to give up his dignity. As he asked the same question as before, Greg shook his head, clearly stating that he was not going to tell him yet again.

With Greg's refusal to give an answer, Cal became clearly aggravated. Taking a firm grip on the blow torch, he turned it on, and started brandishing the torturous weapon just inches from Greg's neck. "Okay, I'm done fucking around here! Tell me right now what you said to the god damn video!" he screamed at Greg with enraged eyes.

But still holding on to his stubborn pride, Greg screamed back at Cal, "Just watch the damn video! You figure it out!"

The answer that sealed the punishment, and without hesitation, Cal placed the burner right on the side of Greg's neck.

Greg instantly began screaming in complete hysterics to the absolute grueling pain of his own burning flesh. This was without a doubt worse then the lab explosion, if anything, the worse pain that he has ever endured. It felt like a thousand knifes stabbing his neck a thousand times.

"Mark, grab me the knife and turn off the camera," Cal ordered as he momentarily removed the flame from Greg's neck, giving him a small reprieve.

Mark then ran off to the side of the room to grab the knife that was sitting on the work bench. Before he gave it to Cal though, he went to turn off the camera, but before he could press the button to end the recording, there was an agonizing scream that flooded the background. The screen then turned to black, and the air was filled with silence.

A few seconds later, the black screen turned to static, and then the video started back up again.

It was a relentless term, but it was one that best described what they saw when the video started back up. Greg looked like a living corpse. He was breathing, barely, but all the life was sucked out of him. His eyes were red and visible tear trails glistened under the harsh lights. His hair looked wet, but it was probably due to profusely sweating; it was probably cold sweat though, due to the fact that his face was as pale as a ghost. His knife wound wasn't bleeding anymore either, but there was black trace surrounding the edges; possibly burn marks from burning the wound so that it would stop bleeding. Greg was also sitting up right again, there was a grimy rag shoved in his mouth, and his shirt was ripped down the center, making a cruel mockery that was burned into the skin just above his left peck visible; it said HELP ME.

Greg only sat there, his body was numb with pain and his dead eyes refused to make contact with the camera. Even when he saw Cal approaching him again from the corner of his eye he still didn't move; he didn't care. Though he was a fighter and determined not to give up, he did briefly consider if death was the better option, and then this whole thing could be over.

When Cal approached Greg, without warning or hesitation, he violently ripped the rag from his mouth. Greg immediately started to cough at the sudden supply of somewhat fresh air, for the smell of his own burnt flesh still permeated the air, but he was just thankful that he was just able to breathe through his mouth once again.

Removing the rag from Greg's mouth, something had caught his eye; there was blood on the rag. It disturbed him, but he didn't much attention to it. Cal carelessly threw the rag onto the floor and walked behind Greg again. Cupping his hand under Greg's chin again, he made him look straight into the camera. "Well, from the looks of it, I don't think your boy's holding up to well right now," he said, mocking the weakness that Greg had finally succumb to. Cal then dropped his head, allowing it to loosely hang there. "Obviously, we decided to keep that little clip in there for you guys, you know, the scene where he was trying to give you guys some information."

When Greg heard Cal had decided to keep this clip in the video, Greg finally took his first glimpse down at the engraved burn to his chest. He was trying to avoid looking at it for he thought that if he never looked at it, then it would just go away, but now seeing it, it gave him a whole new sense of what he suffered through. Though it was upside down, he could read the words that Cal had carefully carved into his skin with the burning knife; HELP ME. Greg was aggravated, but more so at him self. If he had just cooperated like Cal had recommended at the beginning of this whole ordeal, then there could have been a chance that he could have been sitting in this chair without a single cut or scratch.

"We took Greg's advice though and just watched the video after we finished burning his little white lie into his chest. What he was trying to tell you guys, it was of no relevance to us, but I don't know, maybe it could help you. It _is_ Greg's intended goal, so don't let him down now okay." With every word, his voice was dripping with a smug arrogance of complete mockery.

And to top it all off, his intentions behind what he said even proved to be useless. Feeling defeated and broken, Greg dropped his head and silently let a few tears fall from his eyes.

"Now, unfortunately for you guys, this isn't a ransom video. There is nothing that you can give me that is worth this mans life. I've kidnapped Greg for the sole purpose of seeing him, and you suffer, and I intend to see that through." Cal said this without any emotion.

Hearing this, Greg looked up at Cal to see if there was any sense of mercy in his sadistic captor, but only receiving a cold and empty stare back at him, Greg now knew his fate.

"I will say though," he continued. "I will give you the chance that you never gave him."

Relief filled Greg once he heard this, knowing that this wasn't the definite end for him. Just hearing the word chance, it gave him hope, and he hoped that it would give Nick and Catherine the same feeling hearing this. It was all any of them really had right now.

Silence filled the air, in both the video and the A/V lab and then the screen went black, and the video was over.

Nick, Catherine and Archie all just stood there, emotion wrecked eyes and the deathly look of shock on their faces.

As the video ended, it did give an essence or hope and opportunity, but still, seeing Greg's condition after only 6 hours of being missing, it made them wonder how long do they really have till that opportunity is gone. They never really knew that Greg had this strong stubborn side, though lately he had been more assertive, but it was this that could ultimately end his life.

Nick weakly spoke with a crack in his voice, "He's gonna get himself killed." He could barely swallow the words that he just spoke.

Catherine was surprised to see the direction her emotions had taken her. She was a very strong woman, and one who knew how to control her emotions, but the inhuman and sadistic brutality that she saw inflicted upon her very close friend, it filled her eyes with tears and made her sick to her stomach. Catherine then left the A/V lab and ran for the bathroom.

After seeing Catherine dismiss herself, Nick felt as if he needed a moment alone. "Hey Arch, I'll be back in a second," he said as he made his way out of the A/V lab. Approaching his and Greg's office, he shut the door behind him and shut all the blinds. Invisible from the sadistic world, the feeling of being alone, he allowed himself to give into his sorrow emotions, and he started to sob in solitude.

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Well, that's chapter 7 for you. I hope you guys liked it and as always, reviews are IMMENSELY appreciated. :D

Now, to begin my thanks.

For favoriting, thank you to Ptitenath92, laughsforlove, PHENOMENIAN-SHIRO, LovingYourWork, VisionX23, and Evil Genius of the COCA.

For alerting, thank you to VisionX23, The Orgastic Future, Didde, and Evil Genius of the COCA.

And finally, for the fantastic reviews, thank you The Walking Chill Pill, TopazMage, almostkaity, crimescenelover, JodsRaine, MADasHATTER, LovingYourWork, Catindahat, P.A, Didde, and GreggieFAN. It's a really great feeling to check your email and see that you have a new review for your story. Also, I know I haven't posted in like 3 weeks, but still, this is the most reviews that I have had for a chapter, and I loved reading all of your guy's comments and fed back.

Also in response to your review GreggieFAN… I would have sent you a personal message, but I can't because it wasn't an account or anything. I hope that I didn't lose you as a reader, because it seems that you thought that I was done with my story. I'm kinda curious as to why you thought that… like I know it's been about 3 weeks since my last up date, but my chapter before this, I kinda left it with a pretty big cliff hanger. But yeah, if I was you and I thought this story was over, I would be pretty lost and oblivious to the ending as well… But now your oblivion to the ending doesn't have to haunt you seeming that here is chapter 7 :D! Other then that, thank you for the review, and I hope you see this message at some point :)

Also, after reading this review, I just kinda wanna give everyone a little inside scoop… I guess I'll call it. I have 20 chapters of this story completed (they are just not fully edited yet). So until we reach chapter 20, you can expect a chapter... but don't worry... I'll still be continuing to write. :)

And one final small little thing… I hope you got your Greg fix from this chapter… because the next 3 or 4 chapters… yeah, there's not really, any Greg… But when I bring him back… I have a feeling you guys will LOVE it :D! These next few chapters though, it's basically the idea that started my story, and I hope you guys are intrigued by it.

So yeah, adios for now :D!


	8. The First Suspect

Alright, so this chapter, Nick and Catherine finally start getting somewhere with finding Greg :D! So yeah, don't forget to let me know what you guys think. Also, don't hold out on reviews people… your reviews are what gives me the fire to want to continue writing this story… I know I said I have a lot of it written, but these chapters aren't fully edited yet people… so if you want me to keep going, let me know, so don't hold back on the reviews. Keep them coming my CSI/Greg/angst/fanfic loving amigos :D!

And yeah, not much else to say other then enjoy chapter 8 :)

Oh, and how epically brutal was stupid Bieber's death XD! IT WAS FRICKIN INTENSE! (Sorry to the Bieber fan's out there (what few there are ha ha), I'm just not a fan of him, if you couldn't already tell.)

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**Chapter 8: The First Suspect **

It didn't take long before Nick had recollected him self and returned back to the A/V lab. Catherine was already standing there waiting for him, and approaching her, he noticed that her hair had been pulled back into a pony tail and that the tips of her hair were damp as well. After the video, she ran to the bathroom, and he could only guess that after seeing it, it caused a reaction and the acidic residue got into her strawberry-blonde locks.

Nick walked into the A/V lab, head held high, and ready to work, and ready to find Greg. He still didn't want to let Greg down, and he didn't want his emotions to delay any more of the time that was so valuable, important, and crucially needed for finding him.

Catherine also had the same mind set, and as Nick approached her, she immediately got right to business. "So I think we should get started with processing the package first and see if we can find anything. Archie said that he could get started with processing the video while we are doing that. Once we're done with the package, we'll get our evidence to Wendy or Hodges or whoever, and then we'll come back here and help Archie; alright," she instructed with a firm and determined confidence.

There was no reason to disprove Catherine's order; he was just happy that she at least had an idea of where they should start. Nick responded in silence, only shaking his head in understanding, not muttering a single syllable. The two of them then left the A/V lab and headed back over to the layout room.

Time passed, and after processing the evidence, they were still right where they were at, even before they received the package. The contents inside the box didn't even give a partial print, a lose hair, or even a shred of trace; even Greg's vest was clean. After seeing the video and getting somewhat of a glimpse behind the kidnappers intentions, and with the lack of evidence with their evidence, it had stated to them that these men were very methodical and meticulous.

They had also received back their results on the note from the crime scene and package and the blood of the forensic enthusiast, Andrew Billium. Trace and prints came back negative on both of the notes, but the handwriting on both of them was from the same person. Then with Andrew's blood, there wasn't a match to the blood at the staged crime scene, not even a common allele.

Seeming that they were done with processing the package, Nick and Catherine headed back over to the A/V lab to meet back up with Archie.

As the two CSI's entered the lab, Archie saw the dismay on their faces and stressed asking them his question that he was hoping would be a positive answer. "Did you guys get anything off the package?"

"Not a thing. It was clean to the very corner and crease," spoke Catherine with much woe and disappointment in her voice.

Nick felt the same way. Everything piece of evidence only left them at a dead end and without anything to at least fall back on; this video was their last hope. "Please say that you've found something of use to help us with Greg on the video Arch," his voice practically pleading for some good news.

"I've already watched the video again, and honestly, I'm not finding a whole lot that you guys could follow up on. But, I have been watching the part where Greg was trying to tell you guys something, and I think I know what's he's saying now," Archie stated, trying to uplift the spirit of the two down CSI's.

Hearing this, Catherine's eyes narrowed and a nasty bitterness filled her voice. "But wait; the kidnappers said that what Greg had said, it was of no relevance to them. Why are you trying to figure out what he's saying if it's of no importance?" she reminded them.

The tone in her voice was evident, but Nick was surprised to hear this from her; she was always the one who examined every possible angle of every case. Hell she even took Andrew's fingerprints even though he was wearing gloves while he was handling the package. "Catherine, Greg was trying to tell us something for a reason, so I don't think we should give up on it," Nick reasoned.

"Nick, following up on a lead that the kidnappers flat out said was useless; it's a waste of time."

"Well maybe it's a trick. It's not like they are going to openly admit to something that could help us," Nick retorted, proud of his justification.

"You're right, but why would they leave something in the video that would help us at all. They stopped the video so that they see what Greg said. If it was something important, they could have just recorded over it and poof, it's gone. But because it was pointless, they kept that part so that we could see Greg suffer," Catherine threw back at him again with a harsh tone, strongly defending her thinking.

Nick did see the logic in her debate, but he also saw the reasoning behind his, and he still held strong with defending his view as well. "If Greg didn't get caught, what would we be doing right now?" he retorted with a bitter pride.

"We would process the video," she simply responded with a snarky attitude.

"Alright, and if Greg didn't get caught, that means that the clip would still have been in this video and the kidnapper wouldn't have said what he said at the end."

Catherine was silent; Nick had her now.

"We think it's irrelevant just because the kidnapper said it was. Greg said what he said for a reason; he didn't think he was going to get caught, or at lest he was hoping he wouldn't," he continued to reason, his Texas accent coming through thick matching Catherine's bitter tone.

Catherine was now seeing what Nick was saying and couldn't find a way to defend her self. She still stood there in silence; god she hated being wrong.

Nick was starting to see that Catherine was giving into his reasoning, but her stubborn silence announced her dismay of not being able to defend her self. Nick knew it was time to soften his debate, and get down to the true means of why they needed to look at the video. "Right now, this is the only thing that we have to follow up on. If it's useless, well at lest we examined that possibility, which supervisor Catherine Willows always does," he laughed; he figured it would hurt to try and make her smile. "And if it is helpful, well, then we have a new lead."

Catherine figured that he was right. They were at a dead and right now, and if in fact this was important, then they could have their first real lead. "So Archie, you said that you've figured out what Greg was saying?" Catherine questioned the lab tech now wanting to immediately begin processing the video.

Archie was just sitting back and silently listening to Nick and Catherine's banter. They both had their plausible reasoning's, but he had mostly agreed with Nick. Now with Catherine on his side, he abided to her order and went to the clip where Greg was speaking to the camera. "Alright, now I am not an expert at reading lips, but the first time that he says something, it looks like he is saying two kidnappers. Then the second time he speaks to the camera, I think he's saying address, 161, but then he got caught. My guess, it could be the start of a house number." Archie then played the clip for the two hovering CSI's. Watching it, and knowing what to expect Greg to say, it was clear that what Archie had guessed, he was saying. After watching this little piece of the video that would hopefully prove to be helpful in the near future, they started back at the beginning of the video once more, taking to note every minor and major detail.

As the morning went on, in a speed that could be described as painfully slow, they still couldn't find the slightest shrivel of a clue or hint to where Greg could be. After spending about the last two hours practically analyzing ever single frame, and still having nothing, both Nick and Catherine really took to value of the scene where Greg gave them some information, whether it was useful or not.

The only other piece of information that did in fact give them great hope was at the ending. _"I will give you the chance that you never gave him."_ Everyone was able to conclude that they were going to give them a chance to save Greg's life, which gave them immense hope. Though were there was hope, there was also confusion. Who was the kidnapper referring to when he said him? Who is him, and what chance wasn't he given?

Judy was sitting at her desk, carrying out her usual secretary business, with answering phones, sending faxes to other crime labs, and taking messages. She knew little about the events going on with Greg, with being a wall flower and normally just a person in the background, she usually didn't know much about what was going on with any case, but today, she would be delivering a message that could give the CSI's their biggest lead.

The phone ran, and Judy answered it. "Hello. Las Vegas Crime Lab, this is Judy," she greeted in her always needed friendly and perky tone.

"Hi Judy, this is Brass. Listen, we got a call from a just a minute ago from a guy who was saying how he had been hearing screaming and yelling at his neighbor's house. I looked up the address that he gave me, and the first three numbers of the house match the numbers that Greg had mentioned in the video. So could you give Nick and Catherine this address that I am about to give you and could you tell them to meet me here. The address is 1614 94th Dr. SE. It's about a half hour out of Vegas."

Judy quickly jotted down the address. "Alright, I will be sure to tell them right now," she affirmed, and then hung up the phone.

Still glaring at the screen, with their eyes burning, and just now passing the two hour marker for time spent processing the video, the focus was broken by Judy walking into the room.

"Nick, Catherine; I just got off the phone with Brass, and he told me to give this address to you two. It's supposedly a possible lead to Greg," she announced. Nick and Catherine snapped their heads around and looked at Judy as if she was this ultimate savior. She was holding a simple piece of paper, but on it was an address that led the lost CSI's to Greg.

Nick instantly got up from his chair and took long strides over to Judy and took the small sticky note from Judy's dainty hands. Looking at the address, Nick was instantly drawn to the house number; 1614, same as the three numbers Greg had said. "Thank you Judy," Nick said with much gratitude.

"Sure. And Brass asked you two to get there as soon as possible, although I would imagine you guys getting ready to leave right now anyways, right. Nothing really needed to be told," said Judy, knowing that Nick and Catherine wouldn't be anywhere near being ignorant or stupid as to take their time with their dear friend and colleague's life on the line.

Nick gave a small smile and started to head for his car, knowing that Catherine would be shortly behind. "Hey Archie, you okay with finishing this on your own?" Catherine asked before she left the lab.

"Catherine, are you joking? Go get Greg back. If we get him back, I won't even need to process this. So go," Archie obviously stated while motioning with his hands to leave.

With Archie saying this, she ran out the door of the A/V lab and down to the parking garage where Nick was waiting. Running down the stairs and through the doors that led to the garage, she saw Nick waiting, car started, pulled out of the spot, and waiting for her. She ran over and jumped in, and before her seat belt was on, Nick was already out of the garage, heading to the address, and off to rescue his best friend.

The drive felt like a hectic race against time. Nick was already breaking the speed limits, but to him, he still didn't feel like he was going fast enough. He had one thing on his mind; to find Greg and to get him back.

The drive took about a half hour, but it felt like they had been driving on an endless rode into nothing. But they finally arrived, and making the final turn into the neighborhood, the police cars in the cul-de-sac ahead became visible.

Nick had to drive on a desert rode to get to this neighborhood, and with the speed limit about 80 miles per hour, with the dramatic viscosity change of 80 to 20, Nick felt as if snails were moving faster then they were. Time was Nick's sole focus; getting to Greg in time, and the slow trip through the suburb where every house looked exactly the same was torture. He felt like he was trapped in a mind trick, where he could see the end, but never reach it, the pattern just kept repeating its self over and over again.

Finally approaching the cul-de-sac at the end of the street, Nick pulled up next to the two police cars and Brass' black Crown Victorian. They were parked in front of the house that they had gotten the call for, 1614. Nick read the rusty numbers that hung on the side of the house, and all he could think about was if Greg was in that house.

Nick pulled up to a curb and parked his Tahoe into place. He stepped out of his car and walked to the back of his truck to grab his CSI kit, but as he rounded the corner, his eyes came into contact with a foreclosed home. In the parking lot sat a big, black Chevy van. He knew it couldn't have just been a coincidence that a van that was exactly like the one Greg was taken in was right next door to the house they were investigating.

Catherine followed Nick in getting out of the car and was walking to the back to retrieve her kit as well. Approaching the back though, she saw Nick's eyes set straight ahead of him. She curiously asked, "What is it Nick?"

Nick looked at Catherine, and then back at the van while pointing at it. "You see that van right there; wanna bet that's the van Greg was taken in?"

Seeing the van as well, her eyes widened and her face was in shock as well thinking that there was no way that this was just a complete coincidence. "Well let's go take a look," she said as she started to walk over toward the van.

Nick quickly grabbed both of their kits and shut the trunk before he caught back up to Catherine. As they approached the van though, they instantly knew that it wasn't a coincidence, but that this was the van that Greg was taken in. A Black E-150 Chevy with bullet impressions on the back and sides and a license plate that read 646-LMB.

"Well, the van's on a foreclosed lot, so technically it belongs to the state; we don't need a warrant. We'll tell Brass and he can send someone over to get it impounded," Catherine stated, with finally high spirits in her voice.

"We should probably go talk to him now," said Nick. With the confidence that they had the right house, and with the solid evidence of this van, he was ready to nail the sons-of-bitches that kidnapped Greg.

Catherine and Nick started to walk over to Brass. As they approached him, Catherine quickly offered up a question that would demand answers. "So what's going on Brass?"

Seeing that he had both of their full attention, he proceeded to answer Catherine's question. "Alright, so at 9:00 o'clock this morning, I got a call from the neighbor across the cul-de-sac who claimed that he heard yelling and screaming coming from this house," Brass said, now pointing at the house that they were standing in front of.

"So who lives here?" Nick asked.

"Caleb and Markus Donnar; brothers, and get this, Markus has done some time. He was released from Nevada State Penitentiary about two months ago," informed Brass.

"Then there's a file on Markus, so we should already have his fingerprints and DNA," Catherine inferred.

"We'll need to ask Wendy to run the blood found at the fake crime scene against his. Even if it isn't his blood, if there are shared alleles, then it could be Caleb's blood at the crime scene," suggested Nick.

Catherine's spirits were finally becoming filled with glee; they were finally getting somewhere now and were now able to put together the missing pieces of this puzzle. Bringing the conversation back to the Donnar's though, Catherine asked, "So have you guys talked to them yet?"

"We've been waiting for you to arrive, so no, we haven't. But, from just being able to see inside their front window, they've been scrambling; could be trying to hide something."

"What about the neighbor who called in the Donnar's, have you talked to him yet?"

"Briefly, he was the one who called in the Donnar's so I just asked like a standard question or two. So you guys will want to go over and talk with him, ask his a few questions about what he saw, what happened, just get his statement," Brass informed. "So I think I have told you guys all that you need to know so unless you guys have any other questions."

"Actually, do you think you could send someone over to impound that Chevy van over there? It's at house 1615," Nick asked.

Brass reached his head out of the view of Nick and Catherine and looked over at the van that Nick was talking about. "Why do you need the van?"

"We're pretty sure it's the van that Greg was taken in. We identified it back at the lab, and the plates match and it's the same make and model; there are also bullet holes and impressions. Plus, it's on a foreclosed lot, so technically, it's the states; we don't need a warrant or anything."

Brass seeing no problem with his reasoning shook his head in agreement to what Nick was saying. "I'll have someone come buy and pick it up and take it to the lab. Listen guys, not to sound like I'm trying to get out of here, but I need to get going. Langston needs help with getting a warrant for his rape case, so if you guys think you can handle the rest."

"We've got it Brass, thank you," Catherine assured the detective.

With the assurance from the two informed CSI's, Brass began to dismiss himself and walked off to his car. "Alright, well I'm off; call me if you guys get anymore on Sanders okay," he said to Nick and Catherine before he got into his car. He then began to drive off, but then remembered one final thing, and drove up to Nick and Catherine, and rolling down his window, he said, "And one more thing; Officers Mitchell and Akers are here to assist you, if you guys need anything." With the assurance from the nods in their heads, Brass finally drove off and out of the neighborhood.

Catherine and Nick started to walk up to the two Officers that were standing off to the side. With her eyes straight out ahead, she didn't notice the garbage cans sitting on the curb, and would have almost ran into one if it wasn't for Nick pulling her out of the way at the last second. Catherine was startled by Nick's sudden jerk, but realizing that he saved her from the embarrassment of running into a garbage can, she was thankful that Nick was at least watching where she was going.

Seeing Nick and Catherine approach them, the two Officers started to head to the front door of the Donnar's resident and motioned them to follow. Nick and Catherine did so, and walking up the porch steps to Caleb and Markus's front door, they were prepared to stare in the face of Greg's possible kidnappers.

"Caleb and Markus Donnar, LVPD sir, could you open up please?" said Nick after knocking on the door.

It was a few seconds before the door began to open. Standing in the door way before him was a tall, brute and intimidating man staring at him with dark eyes. The man was also sweating and his breath was heavy which made Nick ponder as to why this was; maybe Brass was right and they are trying to hide something, or someone. His height is what really caught Nick's attention though, seeming that it bared a resemblance to one of the kidnappers from the alley. Nick figured that this man at the very least had to be 6'5''. Just the appearance of this man had instantly raised guilty suspicions with in him. "Are you Markus?" Nick asked.

The brute man was silent for a minute, as if pondering whether or not to answer his question. "Yes, I'm Mark," he finally spoke and addressing a different name. "And who are you?" he smugly continued with beady eyes.

"Mr. Donnar, I'm Nick Stokes, and this is Catherine Willows; we're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab," Nick responded with an authoritive tone.

Being an inmate, Mark was never a real big fan of cops or any person of law enforcement in general. "Well, what do you want, _Officer_?" he asked, his hate for the law evident in his bitter tone and arrogant enunciation.

Nick could easily sense Mark's smug attitude. "I'm not a cop Mark, I'm a CSI. But these two here," Nick said pointing behind him, "they are," he continued, playing the conceited tone as well with a thick southern accent. Though keeping some means of seriousness and professionalism, he returned to the business of questioning the suspect. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions, regarding our current investigation."

When CSI Nick Stokes said this, Mark immediately knew why the law was on his door step. But as he had learned years ago, and knew even before his first visit to prison, it was do not cooperate with cops; do not tell them anything. "Well I don't know anything, so you've got the wrong guy," he coldly said, and then he went to shut the door in their faces.

Nick saw what Mark was about to do though and he immediately threw his body at the door to prevent it from shutting. Nick knew that these were the men who had kidnapped Greg, and being so close now, he refused to let them slip from his grasp. "Sir you're a suspect in our current investigation and I strongly suggest that you cooperate with us or I can just get a warrant for you arrest and I can assure you, that will take seconds!" Nick shouted at the man, now threatening him, hoping that it could knock some reason into him.

But before Mark could answer, a second man approached the front door and interrupted. "Well, you're gonna have to get yourself a warrant then."

Nick was immediately drawn to this man; this was the guy from the video. He was a tall man – not as tall as Mark though – with wide shoulders; a very dominate stature. His eyes were also cold and black and his voice was grim.

"Now I suggest that you step back outside before I call the cops and tell them that there is a CSI that entered my house without my permission or a warrant. Maybe the cops behind you wouldn't mind escorting you out of my house," the second man continued, with the same smug voice.

His voice was not only grim, but Nick noticed how it had the same arrogant mockery that the kidnapper in the video portrayed. "Are you Caleb?" Nick asked once he stepped back outside of their home.

"Yes I am Caleb, and you are, Nick, if I heard you correctly," Caleb said, his tone covered with and evil, sinful play.

"I'm Nick Stokes, a CSI at the Las Vegas Cri-" Nick was trying to say, proudly giving his title to his authority, but he was rudely cut off.

"You know if I heard your name while in the house, it means I heard everything else too."

Catherine had let Nick take control of the questioning on this one, and even though he was handling himself well under their cruel mockery, she couldn't stand to watch it anymore. These men were vile and disgusting and she just couldn't stand the thought that if Greg was in that house, that they couldn't get him out right away. They had probable cause against these two men, but they didn't yet have to solid evidence to convict them. Catherine was hoping that she could catch a lucky break though. As she walked back down the porch steps, she headed over towards the garbage cans that she had almost run into.

These two men were just hammering their guilt into Nick's head. He knew that these were Greg's kidnappers, and even being at their door step, they were still taunting and mocking him just like they were in the video, and Nick had had enough of it. "Well if you heard everything then you heard that you're a suspect in our investigation," returning the arrogance and thick Texan accent again.

"You catch on quick Stokes. And I also heard that you want to ask us a few questions. Well we're not talking. Just like you need a warrant to come in my house, you need a warrant to interrogate me, so hopefully you have enough evidence to do that," his voice drooling with a sadistic pride of confidence.

While Nick was struggling to keep his composure and not lunge out and attack these cocky bastards, Catherine was looking through the Donnar's garbage cans. It seemed to be garbage day in this neighborhood seeming that everyone's garbage cans were out on the curb. This was one law that she had favored in desperate times for evidence because if someone's garbage was on the curb, then it was available to the public domain, and they could search through their suspect trash without a warrant.

There were two garbage cans on the curb and Catherine started off by photographing them, as she always did in following the first step of procedure. After she took her picture, with the garbage can on her left, she took the lid off and photographed the untouched contents inside of the can. She finally started to rifle threw the trash bag.

Having done countless trash runs in her past, sifting through garbage, though not a task she enjoyed doing, was something that she was use to, to a certain extent. It was apart of the job though and their need, as a CSI, to be thorough, but over the years Catherine had managed to build a quick and effective method to get the dirty job done fast and done right.

Looking through the bag, there so far wasn't anything of use. There were take-out bags, food containers, used tissues and toilet paper, beer bottles, condoms, some cigarette; the typical items you would find in a man's household's trash bag. Though there were some items that could give them DNA if they needed it, there wasn't anything that could convict them for kidnapping Greg.

Finding nothing in the first garbage can, Catherine turned to the second one. She just only hoped that this one would contain something of more importance then stale food, toe nail clippings, and greasy bags. Catherine removed the lid from the second garbage can and once again saw a garbage bag, but she also saw something that was stuck in between the garbage can and the bag. She removed the bag and the additional contents fell to the bottom of the can. She instantly recognized the items, and they filled her with a vast series of emotions. She was excited, worried, fearful, ecstatic, anxious, angry, and of all, Catherine felt confident; she could safely conclude that Caleb and Markus Donnar kidnapped Greg.

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DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNN! (I just couldn't resist adding this ha ha :D!)

Now, on to my thanks :)

For adding my story to their favorites list, thank you JoyScott13, Didde, and BloodRoseNinja.

For alerting, thank you danita3, Aluada Ninfadora, jodz92, Ocean Wave Kira, and BloodRoseNinja.

And last but certainly not least, thank you for the reviews Didde, The Walking Chill Pill, JodsRaine, and AbiDabi… I love reading your reviews when I receive them. They truly make my day.

I'm just about done with chapter 9, so yeah, I'm gonna be kinda cruel here and say that the more reviews that I get, the quicker the chapter will get posted :D! But not as many reviews means a longer wait :O! I swore that I wouldn't do this, but dammit, your reviews are like drugs ha ha, I love it when I get one, but then I just need another… I need my fix ha ha. But not to worry too much… I wouldn't be able to wait past a week so yeah, you'll at least get the next chapter within a week, maximum… more reviews means a faster post. I mean, don't you guys wanna know what Catherine found in the garbage can? Do you guys have any guesses? You can let me know what you think in one of those snazzy little reviews (wink wink). I'll leave you with this to question this while you wait for chapter 9 :)!

Until my next chapter, adios my amigos :D!


	9. Guilty Conviction and Unknown Suspicion

Just a brief note on the title… in the part where you pick which chapter that you wanna read, while my chapter title was too long so I had to cut it down a smidge… but yeah, its not that big of a difference but the real title is just below this AN, so yeah… just wanted to point out that small detail.

This chapter, the evidence that Catherine found will be revealed, but will it be enough to convict the Donnar's? Will Nick and Catherine finally rescue Greg? Well, those questions will be answered in chapter 9.

Short Authors Note today ha ha… anyway, enjoy :D!

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**Chapter 9: A Guilty Conviction and An Unknown Suspicion**

Disregarding how she was feeling, Catherine set aside her emotions and quickly began to collect the evidence like a professional. She took a picture of the contents at the bottom of the trash can and after bagged each individual item and then began to make her way up to the Donnar's house once again.

Hearing the click of her heals making her way up the wooded porch steps, everyone's head turned toward her, and their eyes grew curious once they saw the bagged contents in her hand.

Seeing that she had everyone's attention, she immediately took to her authority and ordered the two Officers. "Officer Mitchell and Akers, could you please arrest these two men and take them down to the station to be further interrogated please?"

The sudden order that completely went against everything that he refused to cooperate with, it irritated Caleb to see this woman with such a confidence that he felt like she couldn't back up. "What do you have that is going to arrest me?" Caleb asked, challenging Catherine's confidence with his own arrogance.

Catherine wasn't giving into Caleb's purposeful taunting intentions though, and with the same smug pride that he issued, she threw his words back at him. "It doesn't matter what I have. Fact is, what I do have, it's enough to bring you guys in and interrogate you without a warrant."

Officer Mitchell and Akers both knew that there was never a reason to doubt Catherine's word, so they immediately approached the two men, with their cuffs in hand, and began to arrest the Donnar's to take them down to the station.

"And could you please cite these men their right," Catherine asked the Officers who then complied once again with her order.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense," Officer Mitchell recited while leading the two brothers to the police car.

Caleb and Markus were being passive the whole time. They both knew that there was nothing that they could do, for they knew what they were guilty of. It still didn't stop Caleb from issuing a threat to the two CSI's. "You'll be hearing from our lawyer," he threatened with a smug smirk.

Catherine still wasn't giving into Caleb's snarky attitude though, and returning the pride, she snided back at them with a smart quip of mockery. "Well it's your right to one, or didn't you hear that? I mean he's only standing right behind you. Hopefully your lawyer can save your ass though, but I doubt it, due to the evidence that we in fact do have stacked up against you," she also threatened, and not to shy to had the embellishment of Caleb's earlier taunts.

Caleb shot a glare at her with cold, black, smoldering eyes, but she paid no attention to it, which only further irritated Caleb. The glare disappeared though once Officer Akers got into the police car and began to drive off and back to the station; the two Officers had conversed and Mitchell decided to stay here and look after Nick and Catherine.

Seeing the police car drive off with Greg's kidnapper's inside, it gave Catherine an invigorating feeling, proud to see these two sadistic men going to prison for their crime committed.

Nick felt the same way and was just happy that they were now able to bring to justice the men that have greatly harmed their friend. He was curious as to what Catherine found and what the evidence was that would bring the Donnar's into custody. "Hey Catherine, what did you find in the trash can?"

"Evidence that connected them to Greg," Catherine said as she handed the bagged evidence to Nick. "Two used rolls of duct tape, a bundled up bunch of used tape, and Greg's tee-shirt," she continued, listing off the contents.

Nick was studying the evidence and he then removed the tee-shirt from the bag; it was without a doubt Greg's. The shirt had been cut down the middle, there were a couple drops of blood around the collar and the right sleeve had been torn up due to when the kidnapper mutilated Greg's shoulder. "The DNA on the shirt will confirm that it's Greg's, but I already know it is."

"Yeah, me too," Catherine stated, knowing that the shirt was Greg's as well. "It will just be a stronger conviction against the Donnar's. The tape will help too; running the epithelials against Greg will only further place him with Donnar's."

With the two kidnappers that Greg mentioned now in custody and now solid evidence that was pointing at the Donnar's, Nick was ecstatic that they were finally getting somewhere with this investigation. They now had proof that just needed to be justified and two guilty suspects in custody, and an open house to search around in and find Greg. "You know we should probably go clear the house, see if Greg is in there."

Catherine just silently nodded and her and Nick then walked up to the front door again with Mitchell by their side. Nick and Officer Mitchell then entered the Donnar's house and did their sweep while Catherine decided to wait outside. It didn't take them long to clear the house, but Catherine's heart dropped when she saw the two men leaving the house again, and only the two men. "Where the hell is Greg?" she desperately asked.

The same sorrow expression was on Nick's face as well and a disturbing feel began to stir in the pit of his stomach. "We cleared all the rooms; Greg isn't in there," he somberly stated, his voice worried.

"Well where the hell is he? Those bastards we just arrested kidnapped him! We have proof!" she exclaimed, holding up the bag with Greg's bloody and ripped shirt in it. "Where the hell is he!" she was practically screaming, desperate for an answer thought she knew Nick didn't have it; he was just as lost as she was.

Though Nick didn't have an answer for her, he did try to find a reason behind their now missing friend's disappearance. "Well Brass said that the neighbor called in the disturbance at 9:00am this morning, and Brass got here are 9:45 and we got her at 10:00. It's now 10:15 and Greg is now missing. We didn't question them till a little after 10:00, so what the hell happened to Greg in between the one hour?" Nick reasoned.

"Keep in mind though Nick, the Donnar's didn't know that they were called in, so that would actually only give them about 15 minutes to hide Greg," Catherine reminded Nick, now adding another variable to consider in this confusion.

Not understanding as to where Greg was, Nick made the only suggestion. "Maybe we should go back inside and look around again. We can just go through it quick and see if we can find something; anything."

Catherine agreeing, seeming that there was no where else to turn right now with locating their missing friend, walked into the Donnar's house with Nick. The two of them immediately split up and completely searched the house again. After a while, and after searching under every bed, every closet, and even a rundown truck parked in the backyard, Greg was still no where to be found.

Nick and Catherine finally met up with each other again in the living room with the same confused look on their faces. "Nick, he's not here," she stated, worry leaking from her vocal cords.

Trying not to dwell on the increasing worry that he was feeling; Nick made a new suggest that he figured to possible help clear up this confusion that was dominating their intellect. "Well we haven't talked to the neighbor yet. Maybe he saw something else after he called in the Donnar's. Plus, getting his statement, it could help to be able to incorporate a story or a timeline if what happened. It'll give us something to fall back on and follow up with."

Catherine was thankful that at least Nick had somewhat of a hold on this ciaos and like his assuring and positive reasoning behind his suggestion. "That's a good idea," she humble admitted. "We'll talk to the witness and after we'll head back down to the station and interrogate the Donnar's. After that, if we need to, we'll head back down here and search the house some more," she then added, creating a plan of action that they could follow.

With their plan devised, the two of them gathered their field kits and the evidence that Catherine found and left the Donnar's house. They then walked over to Nick's Tahoe and dropped off their unneeded equipment and walked across the cul-de-sac over to their witness's house.

Calvin Richards, the neighbor who called in the Donnar's for hearing the disrupting and disturbing screams, was standing on his porch and watching the events across the cul-de-sac take place. With taking a sip of his morning coffee, he then noticed the two CSI's leave the house and started to make their way over to his. As the always friendly neighbor always does, as his guests approach his house, he politely waived and greeted with a smile on his face, "Well hi there."

Catherine was in charge of the introductions this time, and to the man's friendly greeting, she returned back, "Good morning sir. I'm Catherine Willows, and this is my partner Nick Stokes. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and I understand that you were then one who called in your neighbors?"

"Yes, I am the one who called it in, and listen, I didn't mean for them to get arrested, but with the way those screams sounded, I mean, they sounded pained; I knew I had to call it in, but I didn't know it was going to be this serious."

Catherine wanted to correct this man before her with the humble attitude; apologizing for men who were kidnappers was something a man as helpful as him shouldn't be apologizing for. "No Sir-" Catherine started to speak, but was then cut off.

"Oh honey, I apologize; my name is Calvin Richards, but please, call me Calvin" he interrupted to correct Ms. Willows on her formal title.

Catherine smiled at the man's gesture, asking for her to use his common name. She then continued with that she was going to say, "Well, Calvin, you did the right thing calling them in. You gave us a tip that has already been a massive help in our current investigation. You have no reason to apologize." She wanted to give the man the praise that he deserved. Though returning her attention back to why her and Nick were over at Calvin's house, she asked "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me and my partner asked you a few questions about the Donnar's. Its standard procedure and it could help us in our investigation."

"Oh of course Ms. Willows, I would be happy to help. I don't know if he has said anything to you, but Captain Brass came over here just before you guys showed up and I told him that I was willing to cooperate by any means. I truly just want to help" Calvin humbly assured the two CSI's. "And if you two would like, we could go inside and sit down; it would be more comfortable" he then insisted.

Catherine glanced at Nick and back at Calvin, "Yes thank you; that would be nice."

Nick was silent in his thoughts, finding it somewhat hard to believe that they have come across someone that was so helpful. Nick glanced up at man, and stepped forward, and it was here, that Calvin finally got to hear him speak for the first time. "Mr. Richards, I wanna thank you." Nick then offered to shake the man's hand in gratitude.

Calvin took grasp of Nick's hand, and as gentlemen do, he shook it. "Well, your welcome Mr. Stokes, but thank you for what?" returning another humble smile.

"Thank you for being so cooperative. Right now, we'll basically take anything we can get, and I know that Catherine and I, we both greatly appreciate you being so accommodating and helpful. It really means a lot" spoke Nick. Looking at Mr. Richards, he felt completely thankful to him. Nick knew that he would never be able to repay this man for his help, even if all he did was just make a simple phone call, but he helped bring in the two men that kidnapped his best friend.

"How about we head inside now" Calvin spoke as he walked over to his front door. Then being a gentleman, he opened the door and ushered in the two CSI's, "After you."

Catherine was the first to walk in and directly fallowing behind was Nick. Catherine just carelessly and casually walked through the door, like anyone would do, and headed over to the side of his home to where a chair and coffee table sat.

Nick fallowed right behind her, but before he took his first step into Calvin's home, something caught his eyes as he was casually looking around. He didn't get a clear look at it, and as quickly as he saw it, it was out of his sight. He couldn't tell what it was, and now being inside of Calvin's home, he decided to just ignore it.

Calvin immediately fallowed in behind the two and greeted them into his humble abode. "You guys can make your self comfortable in the living room down the hall there, just past the door on the left" instructed Cal.

Nick and Catherine made there way down the hallway, passing the door to their left, they walked toward the living room that they were asked to go to. Calvin was fallowing behind them, and as they all entering the living room, they took their seats, and Nick and Catherine began to question their witness.

"So seeming that you're our witness, we will start off with some standard questions. So about what time did you begin to hear the disturbance at the Donnar's" asked Catherine.

Calvin was quiet for a minute, thinking back to the events that took place. "Well, I actually heard a few disturbances through the night, but the one that I called the police for as at about 9 AM, and that was the third disturbance. The first was just before 1:30 in the morning or so, and I just saw a van across the street arrive. The second was at around 2 AM, I think, and that was also the first time when I heard the yelling; I didn't take much to notice to it though. But it was the third time that I heard it, at 9 AM, and I decided to call it in."

"What made you call it in that time?" asked Catherine.

"The yelling was different; it sounded pained. And when the yelling stopped, there was just a different feel; everything seemed still, the air was silent. I just figured, that this was now the second time that I had heard screaming from the Donnar's house, so if someone was is trouble, then I need to at least try to help him. I just figured it's better to be safe then sorry, right?"

His words had disturbed both of them. Dealing with death just about everyday, Nick and Catherine knew the feeling that Calvin was talking about. The still, silent air; it was the air of death. They quickly tried to erase this though from their minds, trying to ignore the possibility that Greg could in fact be dead.

Setting aside her inner disturbance, Catherine proceeded with the questioning. "You just said that the first disturbance was around 1:30; did you by any chance see what was going on across the street?"

"Well, it being 1:30 in the morning, it was dark, so I wasn't able to see a whole lot. But what helped was the Donnar's, their front light turned on so I was able to see what was going on a little better. I said that a van pulled in, and I saw two people get out of the van, and the one who got out on the driver's side was tremendous, like Markus. The two of them then went toward the back of the van and pulled something out. The tall one, or Mark, if it was him, and a third person started to walk into the house. The second one, who was in the passenger seat, he then put the van in the Parker's driveway. You know, I did find it weird that they parked the van at the Parker's house, because that house, it's foreclosed. I should have scene the suspicion with it sooner." Calvin had explained the events that he had seen as clearly as he could. But in the back of his head, Calvin felt guilty once he realized that he could have helped the person that was in trouble, and the sorrow had been evident in his voice.

Catherine was very pleased with the vivid description, but she caught the slight bit of sorrow that started to fill his voice. "Calvin, we're just thankful that you called in your neighbors. Thanks to you, we now have two very promising suspects in our investigation, and honestly, if it wasn't for you, then there was a high chance that our case could have gone cold."

Nick agreed with Catherine, happy that they now had a lead to follow up on because of this man, but there was still an odd sense of doubt within him. He was trying to ignore it though, and proceeded with the questioning. With Nick's next question, he was hoping to get a vivid description like the one before when he was explaining the events. "So the third person, the one that was dragged out of the van, did he looked tied up or anything?"

Calvin puzzled for a second. "You know, I'm not sure. The tall one was practically towering over him, and it was dark. So, I couldn't really see. But I'll admit; I wasn't exactly considering that so I wasn't even looking."

"And you didn't see anybody's face?" Catherine asked, though already knowing what the answer was."

Calvin just shook his head, "I didn't. They were just a silhouette due to the porch light."

"Alright, so, if the Donnar's were the ones who took our missing guy, then he is still missing; he wasn't in the Donnar's house. You called us at 9 am because at that time, you heard screaming, and we didn't arrive here until 10; so in at least that one hour time frame, our guy went missing. There wasn't a time where you saw them taking him anywhere or that you saw him or anything was there?"

"I haven't scene the Donnar's leave the house and I'm not sure about your missing guy?" Calvin stated.

Catherine just nodded. She then reached for her phone and quickly pulled up a picture of Greg that she had. "Well if I showed you a picture of our missing guy, do you think could you tell us if you have seen him? We're considering a couple possibilities for his disappearance, so maybe you have scene him, you just didn't know it."

"Sure, I'll take a look," Calvin simply replied.

Catherine then handed her phone over to Calvin. It was a picture of her, Nick and Greg taken a while back. "Have you scene the one on the right?"

With seeing the picture of the two CSI's and this missing man, it dawned on Calvin that they personally knew this man. He let out a heavy sigh and ventured to ask his personal question, "So your friend was taken?"

A sad expression filled her eyes and Catherine nodded her head. "He works with us. We've know each other for about 10 years."

"That's a long time" he commented. "So that's why you two were so thankful, because I helped bring in the criminals that kidnapped your friend" realizing what all the repeating gratitude was for. Calvin then turned back to her question. "I unfortunately have not scene your friend" he announced with dismay. He then handed her back her phone.

Nick had been pretty quiet during the whole questioning. Though he was trying to ignore it, there was an undeniable confusion building up inside of him. It first hit him after they couldn't find Greg in the house, and he puzzled it again when he found the trace on the door, but had chosen to simply ignore it, but this unknown suspicion really hit him when Calvin had said, "I have not scene your friend".

"Mr. Richards, I have one more question for you. This is just standard procedure and we are required to ask this, but do you think we could take a look around your house a little bit. As I said its standard procedure" announced Catherine in a shaky tone. She was worried that asking this question would upset him, and discontinue his helpful and voluntary cooperation. Knowing from past experience, asking someone to search around a house and to basically invade their privacy, it's not a question that most people take lightly too.

"Ms. Willows, I am sorry to say this, but that is where I have to draw the line at my cooperation. I have nothing to hide, and I'm sorry but I don't want two cops, or CSI's, snooping around my house for no particular reason. It's an invasion of my privacy, and I do like my privacy. If you guys want to look around my house, then I have to say that you two need to get your self a warrant." Calvin was put slightly on edge when Catherine asked him this, but he kept the calm in his voice.

Catherine immediately noticed a discomfort that appeared on Calvin's face, but she still tried to convince the helpful witness. "We would need probable cause to get a warrant sir. As I said, it's just a standard procedure" defended Catherine.

"Well you're gonna need to find your self probable cause to search my house. I am willing to help you bring to justice the two men who kidnapped your friend, but I'm just a witness, not a suspect, as far as I'm aware. So I'm sorry, but my house, it's not a place for you to search free range" spoke Calvin, defending his privacy.

Catherine sighed at Mr. Richards' refusal; she wasn't fully expecting him to say yes, and she wasn't surprised when he said no. She didn't know what she would be looking for in the house, but with this job, she has come to learn over the years; when you want evidence, you can't find it, when you don't want it, it's as big as Dallas. She nodded her head in silence, acknowledging Calvin, but showing her disappointment through her silence.

Choosing not to dwell on the slight misfortune for not being able to search the house, Catherine began thank her helpful witness. "Well Mr. Richards, I want to thank you again for all your help today, but I think that its time that we should be taking off now" she sad, now dismissing herself from her witness's home. She then stood up from the couch and started leave the living room and headed toward the front door. Calvin got up as well and fallowed behind Catherine.

Nick was slow at leaving the room. He was still lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out why was feeling this inner disbelief inside of him. He finally stood up though and left the living room.

Nick started to walk down the medium length hallway, and looking up, he noticed Catherine standing by the front door with a sorrow frown on her face. And approaching the front door was Calvin, taking a stance by where Catherine was. Walking down the hallway, he then passed a door on his right, and as he casually glimpsed at it, he then stopped walking. He had heard something, and it sounded familiar, but he couldn't recognize it.

Catherine saw Nick stop at the door and look at it. Curious as to why, she casually asked, "Nick, what is it?"

"Did you hear that?" Nick asked, staring at the door.

"Hear what?"

"Calvin, what's in here?" he calmly asked, still looking at the door.

"It's just a room for storage. Why do you ask?"

Nick just shook his head. Nick was staring at the door, his ears trained to see if he could hear anything else, but when the silence continued, he finally took a step forward, and started to walk away from the door.

Nick finally approached Catherine, and was about ready to leave, when he turned back and looked at the door. Catherine noticed Nick look at the door again, and questioned him, "Nicky, what is it; what are you looking at?"

Nick silently shook his head, acknowledging Catherine, but he then swiftly walked past her and left the house in silence, leaving without paying respects to Richards for his time and his cooperation.

Walking through the front door, he finally turned his attention back to his lucky find from earlier. Just along the side of the door frame, there was a jagged break and a small amount of red trace. There was also a rough mark at the very bottom that looked like it could have been from a shoe.

Frustration and confusion was starting to take over. Nick's frantic mind was racing, trying to find the answer that would explain why he had this unidentifiable feeling in the pit of his stomach. It still wouldn't go away; it was just nagging at him in the back of his mind, but he still couldn't wrap his thoughts around this invisible concept that fluttered around in his brain and started to dominate his intellect.

Catherine was confused by Nick uncharacteristic behavior, and knew that it was something further bothering then the events that had just happened in the short while. She then turned back to face Calvin so that she could thank him again. "So I guess we are going to take off now. Sorry that my colleague didn't formally say good bye to you, but I will on his behalf. I want thank you again for all your help Calvin. We both greatly appreciate everything that you've helped us with."

"Oh, once again, I was just glad that I was able to help" he commented shaking her hand. Catherine then started to make her way down the porch steps and finally back over to Nick's car. As Calvin was watching her leave, he finally decided to through out one final comment to her, "And Ms. Willows, please, come back at anytime."

Catherine turned around quickly and waved goodbye to Richards. Finally, turning back around, she approached Nick's Tahoe, but she saw that Nick was dominating the passenger seat this time.

Catherine got into the drivers seat, and as soon as the car door was shut, she firmly planted her question on Nick. "Alright, what the hell is going on with you? Nicky, what's wrong; I want an answer right now?"

Nick knew he was acting weird, and he wasn't hesitant to bring up the funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Catherine, while being over at the Donnar's house, did you ever get a weird vibe or feeling while being there?"

Catherine sighed, and replied with irritant, "Well I was worried about Greg, but I don't think that's exactly classified as a weird vibe; it pretty self explanatory why I felt that way. But other then that, I never had a weird vide, as your calling it."

"Well then what about at Richards?" Nick then pondered.

Catherine just shook her head. "I felt fine, hell I was kinda happy. We're finally getting somewhere with this. We have two suspects and a witness to prove it." She then turned back to Nick; he looked absolutely strained. "Nick, what's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"I don't know, but for some reason, there was just a weird vibe that I got while being in his house."

"I'm sure you'll feel better once we prove that the Donnar's took Greg," Catherine said, trying to assure Nick. She knew how stressed he was, as she was too, but with Nick, he already felt partially to blame, he was worried about his friend, and now that they had the two kidnappers in custody, though that reaped great news, Greg was still missing. She figured that he might as well carry the weight on his shoulders. Then adding to his stress, there was this paranoia that he displayed while being in Calvin's house. Thinking back to this though, there was one question that she wanted an answer too, one of Nick's abnormal behaviors that had sparked her curiosity. "Nick, changing the subject a bit, but what did you hear when you stop in front of that door?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Nick responded, "I'm not entirely sure. I know that I've heard it before, I just don't know where. I just don't know anything right now Catherine," Nick hopelessly admitted. "Let's just head back to the lab, process the evidence, and question the Donnar's," Nick practically ordered then returned back to his silence, lost in his scrambled thoughts again.

Frustration took over Nick's voice, and it was then that Catherine decided to stop questioning him. She started the car, put it in drive, and started to leave the cul-de-sac, but before she completely pulled out of sight of the house, she slowed down and took one final glance at Calvin Richards' house, and then finally pulled out of the neighborhood.

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And for once, I am not going to leave any comments at the end… only my thanks and gratitude to my readers :D!

For adding my story to their favorites list, thank you yss1016

For alerting, thank you Hannaford and CBTR123.

And for the reviews, thank you Rainn, Lady Sally, Didde, GreggoAddict, JodsRaine, and VisionX23. You have NO idea how happy I was when I read all of your reviews… I would say more, but alas, I cannot…not right now at least. I have to keep my big mouth shut for once.

So yeah, any questions, comments, guesses or even the simplicity of a simple review… they are all appreciated and I always look forward to getting them.

Till chapter 10, Adios My Amigos :D!


	10. Questioning His Innocence

WOO HOO, chapter 10, I'm in the double digits now :D!

Also, I know this chapter could seem a little slow due to the fact that there isn't any Greg or angst and stuff… but thoughts will be coming together in this chapter. But not all questions will be fully answered yet… no that comes in chapter 11… and guess who will FINALLY be coming back :D!

So yeah, chapter 10 people, I hope you enjoy, and reviews, as always, are always cherished :)!

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**Chapter 10: Questioning His Innocence**

Nick and Catherine arrived back at the lab, and they had their minds set on immediately processing the evidence. While in the car, Brass had made a call to Nick, telling him that Caleb's DNA and fingerprints had already been taken, and also that the van had been picked up and was in the garage and ready to be processed. With everything that was going on at the moment, it all seemed like controlled ciaos

With the two of them entering the crime lab, they had approached Judy's front desk and collected Caleb's DNA and fingerprints. Catherine was the one who grabbed the buccal swab and she was heading over to Wendy's lab so that she could get processing Caleb's DNA. Catherine also had the evidence from the garbage can that she hoped would give them their first solid connection to Greg. Nick on the other hand had the ten-card in his hand and was heading over to Mandy Webster, the labs fingerprint expert, so that she could scan the prints into AFIS.

With Catherine swiftly making her way through the, it was easy for Wendy to spot the determined red-head making her way toward her lab. Though has she entered, before Wendy could even release the first syllable of a welcome, she was cut off by Catherine's demanding entrance.

"Wendy, I need you to process this evidence right away," she firmly ordered. Catherine then placed the three bags of evidence and the buccal swab all in a line. With the duct tape first in line, Catherine pointed to the two bags and issued her request for the results of her evidence. "So with the duct tape, first check for epithelial and run it against Greg."

Moving her way down the line, she then pointed to the bagged, tattered blue shirt. "There is blood on this shirt, so once again, check to see if the blood belongs to Greg," she continued to order. "Also, check around the shoulders of the shirt for epithelial; we've specifically looking for the Donnar's DNA here," she once again requested, her thoroughness coming through.

"Finally," she said, and then picked up the buccal swab in its' orange capsule and held it up for Wendy to see. "This is Caleb Donnar's DNA and his brother Markus is already in CODIS. If you get any unknown results, run the DNA against these two. If there isn't a match to either Greg or the Donnar's, run the DNA through CODIS."

Her final request was made, and she began to make her way toward the door to leave, but before she walked out, she told Wendy one last thing. "And Wendy, this is top priority. We need this processed ASAP so that we can convict the Donnar's, so be sure to page me immediately when you have the results." And before Wendy could even assure her, Catherine was out the door.

"Yeah sure Nick, I'll get these fingerprints in AFIS for you right away," Mandy answered. "So how is the case going? Any luck with Greg?" she then ventured to ask, hoping for some positive news.

"Well we have two men in custody right now who seem to be the kidnappers. All the evidence is pointing to them, but we don't have the actual proof right now, but I know it's them," Nick cockily added before continuing. "Catherine just gave most of our evidence to Wendy, so once she's got processed that, it will finally be the proof that we need to convict them," Nick explained, holding out hope in his voice.

"So you think these guys are the kidnappers?" Mandy asked, confirming Nick's thoughts.

"We have little reason to doubt it," Nick stated with confidence.

Catherine had this unfazed determination to immediately get all of the evidence processed, so as she made her way into Mandy's lab, interrupting the conversation that she was holding with Nick, she opened the door and blurted out, "Nick, we need to go process the van now." Only initiating her order, and without waiting for a response from Nick, she was out the door and headed down to the garage.

Immediately obeying her order, Nick began to leave the fingerprint lab, but not without saying goodbye to Mandy. "Well I gotta go, but hey, thanks again Mandy." Nick following behind Catherine left the lab and headed down to the garage to process the van.

The two of them in the garage, Nick and Catherine put on their blue jumpsuits and then walked over to the van to begin processing it. Walking to the back of the van, Nick's eyes were instantly glued upon the bullet impressions made upon the back and sides of the van, but as they opened the back doors, everything that they needed to find was out in the open, littering the van with evidence. There was no doubt; this was the van that Greg was taken in.

Starting at the point that caught his attention the most, Nick began to examine the outer exterior of the van and the bullet impressions. After photographing the impressions and the two bullet holes, Nick started to search the back of the van where he instantly found the two bullets. As he collected them, he set them off to the side so that he could send them to Bobby Dawson in ballistics to I.D. the bullets to clarify that they came from his gun, though he already knew they were.

Catherine was in the back of the van as well and her eyes instantly caught the sight of some red trace that was on the metal floor. Taking out a swab and some phenolphthalein, she was able to I.D. the red substance. "Hey Nick, I've got blood back here" stated Catherine. She was disturbed by it, but she was trying to set aside her emotions and not allow her mind to get carried away to disturbing and unwanted places.

Nick wasn't shy to express his dismayed thoughts though. "It's probably Greg's. When they grabbed him, they shoved him into the back of the van. I don't know if he stayed there the rest of the car ride, but he could have if there's blood," Nick stated as he spoke of the memories of seeing Greg's abduction and making a sour face at his reminiscence of the event.

This was all that was in the back of the van so Nick and Catherine made their way up to the front, the area where the kidnappers sat. Catherine took the drivers side and started to process the seat; her eyes looking for a loose hair or anything that could contain even the slightest shrivel of DNA. On shortly finding nothing, she then hopped into the driver's seat and quickly started to coat the steering wheel with fingerprint dust.

Nick had taken to processing the passenger seat and like Catherine he was also searching for something that could be considered as DNA. He was looking for hair as well, even searching for an old scab, and he even brought out his UV light checking for spittle or, a long shot idea, seamen. But still, he found nothing. The van was clean, and it really only seemed that Greg was the only person in the van.

After finding no luck in the passenger chair, Nick sat in it, and checked the glove compartment. After simply opening it, and the contents, or better word evidence, became visible; a white cloth was scene fallowed buy a brown cylinder bottle. His mind instantly assumed the worse. "Catherine. I think that the kidnappers chloroformed Greg," spoke Nick in a sick realization.

Catherine choose to not to dwell on what was the misfortune, and she quickly got Nick's attention and him back on track. "Nick, stay focused okay, check the bottle for fingerprints and get them to Mandy to run against the Donnar's, and send the white cloth to DNA and see if Greg's epithelial or DNA is on the cloth; prove that it was used to render Greg unconscious. And when you give this to Wendy, tell her once she is done with it, to have her send it to Henry to confirm that the substance inside of the bottle is a match with the contents on the cloth."

With the van now processed, evidence and hand and his supervisor's orders, Nick immediately obeyed her and quickly got all the evidence to the proper lab techs. It didn't take long for Nick to get the evidence to everyone though, and on his way back toward Catherine, he saw her leaving the garage and making her way out of her jumpsuit. Nick then did the same as her and removed his jumpsuit.

"You know, even though the evidence isn't processed yet, we could still start to interrogate the Donnar's. We can't accuse them of anything, only standard questioning, but it's something to do instead of just waiting around doing nothing," Catherine suggested.

Hearing this, Nick couldn't wait to begin interrogating the sick bastard that was obviously messing with his head. Nick nodded his head, agreeing with her, and the two of them headed down to Brass's office to pitch their idea. It didn't take much to convince Brass seeming that he liked the idea, and before they knew it, Nick was sitting in the interrogation room and waiting for Caleb Donnar.

With Nick in the interrogation room, Catherine was standing outside looking through the double sided mirror so that she could observe the interrogation. She then saw Officer Mitchell leading Caleb down the hallway and then the two of them entered the interrogation room.

Nick was sitting at the table in the interrogation room and was waiting for Officer Mitchell to bring in their suspect. Nick was anxious but excited, and he was ready to nail this son of a bitch. The door then opened, and turning his head, Nick could see a handcuffed Caleb Donnar being escorted into the room and over to the table, and he then sat down directly across from him. Nick's blood was already beginning to boil; the smug smirk still on his suspects face. "What happened to the lawyer that you threatened us with?" Nick asked, remembering Caleb's earlier threat, noticing that he walked in alone.

"I don't need to pay a guy to tell me not to talk to you when I can simply tell you that my self," Caleb blankly yet boldly admitted.

"Well, seeming that you've chosen to give up that right, let's just get to the questioning now. Do you know why you're here?" Nick asked, starting off with a standard and straight forward question.

"You obviously didn't catch on when I said that I'm not talking to you. 30 seconds later, it still applies. I'm not saying anything," Caleb harshly and clearly stated.

The fact that this smug bastard had all the answers but was still keeping his mouth shut, it was starting to really take its toll on Nick's sanity, feeling that he absolutely had no control in this situation. He was still determined to get something out of his stubborn and arrogant suspect though, so he proceeded with the interrogation. "Listen Caleb, it was just one simple question. You're not exactly going to give a whole lot away by just stating why you think you're here," Nick attempted to reason with him, hoping to persuade him in giving at least some shrivel of information.

Caleb instantly picked up on Nick's passive intentions in trying to get an answer out of him, but he just threw it right back in his face. "If I tell you why I think I'm here, then I'm basically confessing, and I am saying, I didn't do anything," he snapped back with a cocky confidence and composure.

The arrogance in Caleb's voice was easily digging into Nick's skin. Being denied yet again an answer, it was starting to affect him. His jaw clenched, his muscles tensed, and a frustration that was evident in his eyes started to show. With the rapid emotions that he had gone through in the past few hours, was starting to take its toll on Nick and his irritability finally broke through.

Slamming his fists down on the table, with a stern glare fixed upon Caleb, he practically screamed at him with his thick southern accent and harsh tone. "I'm not going to deal with your fuckin bull shit right now!" Nick viciously exclaimed at the man while pointing at him. "You're here because you kidnapped a CSI, and now, he's missing! If you tell us where he is, then maybe, MAYBE, you can escape the death penalty!" he retorted with his sense of humanity gone. Nick finally felt like he had control in this interrogation again, especially after he delivered his ultimatum; answer some questions, or get the death penalty.

Caleb was instantaneously taken back by Nick. Not expecting for him to go off like that, it replaced his arrogance with worry. But it wasn't just Nick's control in the interrogation that worried him; it was what he was being accused of. "Wait, you think I kidnapped someone?" he questioned, fearing that it was what they believed.

Nick just laughed at him seeing that he was still trying to play innocence. "You fuckin bastard! I'm putting your life on the line and you're still playing this innocent act!" he asked with mockery. "You wanna give this another try Caleb? Why do you think you're here?"

"Because you found out about the van; you traced the van to us!" Caleb practically confessed.

"Yeah I traced the van to you. You kidnapped my missing CSI in that van, I saw you kidnap him; you took him in that van!" Nick was screaming at him, his frustration taking over the tone in his voice.

By this time, rolls were completely reversed. Caleb became this frail, lost suspect, and Nick was the vicious interrogator with mockery playing in his voice every chance he got.

Caleb's mouth just hung open and his eyes here filled with sheer fear and were almost on the verge of tearing; he was speechless. He realized that because he kept his mouth shut, he was now put in a world of hurt. "I, I, didn't kid, I used the van, the van." This was all that Caleb could attempt to stutter out.

Nick still wasn't buying into Caleb's innocent act; to him, the stuttering was just a pathetic embellishment. "Caleb cut the bull shit. We have a witness saying that he saw you arrive at your house at about 1:30 this morning in that van and then shortly after he heard screaming. He then saw you park the van over at the foreclosed lot right next door to your house."

Looking at Caleb though, Nick saw something that he hadn't scene yet, and he himself was taken back by it. Caleb's eyes held this vulnerable fear. Taking down his dominate tone, but still with a stern voice, Nick finally gave Caleb a chance to explain him self. "Caleb, we have a lot of evidence stacked up against you so unless you've got something that you need to confess to, your looking pretty damn guilty."

"I swear to god, I have no idea what you're talking about with the kidnapping," he honestly admitted, his voice now practically breaking.

Nick for once also heard something other then a smug arrogance; he heard honesty in his breaking voice. Nick was now feeling just as confused as his suspect though, so he continued questioning him so he could finally clear some things up. "Caleb, I need you to listen here. Right now, you're being suspected of kidnapping a CSI who is now missing, and if we find him, and he's dead, you're looking at the death penalty. If you didn't do this, then you need to say so, or else you're going to be going down for someone else."

"I didn't kidnap anyone," was all that Caleb admitted to.

"Okay," Nick said, though he was hoping to get more out of the man who was trying to prove his innocence. "Well why did you mention the van?"

Caleb remained silent though.

"Caleb, you already mentioned the van," Nick said reasoning with the man, trying to get him to spill the beans for something.

Caleb still remained silent though, so Nick finally took his opportunity to present his reasonable logic that he had a sure feeling would be enough to get something out of his mess of a suspect. "Caleb, if you're trying to cover up for something else that you did, I can tell you, right now is not the time for that. You're being suspected of kidnapping someone who is now missing, so you have the death penalty on your hands. If you have nothing to do with this, you need to tell us, or you could be dying for something someone else did. I'm taken that you did something, or else you wouldn't be keeping your mouth shut, so for once, confessing to your crime, it's going to help you. Just tell us what you did man."

Caleb came to the conclusion that Nick's logic behind what he was saying was rather reasonable. He knew that he would get in trouble for what he did do, but it was nothing compared to kidnapping someone. Finally heeding Nick's advice, Caleb finally confessed to his crime. "I stole the van."

Hearing this, Nick remembered when he, Catherine and Archie all saw the report for the missing van. If this was the van that he stole, he wanted to find out why. "Why'd you steal the van?" he curiously asked.

Caleb was silent for a second, putting together his thoughts, but with a heavy sigh, Caleb then fully admitted to everything. "So my brother and I, we're desperate for money right now, so when my neighbor asked us to steal this van for him, he said that he'd pay us. He said that there was no way that we'd get caught or anything, that we would be fine, so yeah, we did it."

Everything that Caleb admitted to, it was honest and genuine, and Nick could tell by how smoothly everything came out; it required no thought or recollection. It was like word vomit. Just wanting to clarify him though, Nick asked, "So you stole a van for your neighbor?"

Caleb just shook his head.

"That was your big crime?" Nick asked, sarcasm playing in his voice, though he was serious; he was actually more so shocked. "Why didn't you just tell us that?" he asked, pondering the stupidity behind Caleb's stubbornness.

Nick's question seemed like it held an obvious answer in Caleb's opinion. "Cause stealing a car is a crime dumb ass," he replied, his arrogance returning for his comment.

Nick ignored Caleb's tone and the crude name he was called though. Returning to the questioning, Nick already knew that the car Caleb stole was the one from the report, but just wanting another clarification from the man, he asked, "And when did you steal the van?"

Once again, Caleb's answer required no pause or thought process. Remembering the night clearly, he responded, "It was two nights ago."

With this, Nick instantly knew that this was the van from the report. "What did you do with the van after you stole it?" Nick then asked, now wanting to clear this up.

"I dropped it off at my neighbor's house," Caleb answered.

"Did you ask why he wanted you to steal the van for him?"

"I tried to, but he never answered me."

With half of the truth now unraveling, Nick was completely hung up on why this man was being so stubborn over a stolen car when he was facing a crime that was far worse then what he did commit. "So you were willing to die just to defend the fact that you stole a car," he asked with puzzlement.

"No I wasn't willing to die. It was when you were talking about this kidnapping thing that I confessed didn't I?" Caleb said, factoring in his reasoning behind his stubbornness.

"Well what about when my colleague found the evidence in your garbage can, you didn't think of confessing there?" Nick once again mused, finding Caleb's intentions hard to fully understand.

"You know I figured that you guys were just desperate for something to convict us for," Caleb once again admitted.

"But we were looking through your trash. How the hell does rifling through your trash help convict you for stealing the van?"

By now, Caleb almost felt like Nick was mocking him. The same question basically repeating its self over and over was really starting to bug him. With the smug in his voice returning, Caleb once again stated his means behind his earlier stubbornness. "I told you, I thought you guys were desperate for information," he firmly stated, his irritant obvious in his voice. "You know I just kept my mouth shut because Richards said that I wouldn't get caught, so I figured that if I kept quiet, then you guys wouldn't be able to charge me of anything, because I wouldn't admit to anything," Caleb once more confessed.

Caleb's actions were now justifiable, but it wasn't his full confession that caught Nick's attention. "Wait, Richards… Calvin Richards?" Nick asked, for a confirmation with a thought he was already dreading.

And Caleb's simple answer confirmed Nick's already growing suspicion. "Yeah," Caleb said.

"What does he have to do with this?" he then asked; worry building in his stomach for what the answer might be.

"He was the neighbor who paid me to steal the van, and he was the one who said that I wouldn't get caught but obviously, he was full of shit!" Caleb exclaimed.

Everything was all of a sudden beginning to piece its self together in Nick's mind. This jumbled mess was now turning out to be a methodical scam. Nick was silently sitting there, his thoughts frozen in shock and he didn't break out of this trance until Catherine began to speak through the micro phone. "Nick, I just got a page from Wendy. She's got our results," she announced.

Hearing this, Nick instantly got up from the table and left the interrogation room. Turning the corner and seeing Catherine standing there with the same shock on her face that was on his, he knew that she was thinking the same thing. Walking to the DNA lab, Catherine began to speak her inevitable thoughts. "Nick, if the Donnar's are innocent, does that mean we're looking at Calvin Richards."

Nick was silent though. Catherine putting a question to his scrambled thoughts, he was finally beginning to put together his thoughts and suspicions, and they were all forming around this man. Before he could answer her though, the two of them entered the DNA lab.

"Wendy, what did you get back for the results?" Catherine asked, immediately demanded her results.

"Regarding the evidence that you collected from the van; DNA on the cloth came back to Greg and Hodges ran the trace that was found on the rag and it came back as chloroform and it also matched the chemical substance in the brown bottle, so the chloroform came from the bottle and was most likely used to subdue Greg," Wendy stated, listing off her results.

"For the evidence that you found in the Donnar's trash; blood and epithelials on the shirt are a match to Greg, as well as the epithelials on the duct tape," she continued.

For her next and final piece of evidence, it both reaped good and bad news; she only hoped that it would help the two CSI's. "There was also a second donor on the duct tape, but it didn't match either of the Donnar's; there actually wasn't a single marker in common," she announced with some dismay for her results weren't able to convict their only suspects. But still, she did have a result regarding the second donor. "I did run the unknown DNA from the duct tape against the unknown DNA from the staged crime scene though; we have a match."

Wendy handed the papers with the results on them to both Nick and Catherine who instantly grabbed them and started to read them over. Catherine was looking at the page with the results on the DNA from the tape and thanks to Wendy's thoroughness; Catherine was able to make certain assumptions. "Well if the DNA isn't the Donnar's, we are without a doubt looking at a new suspect."

"Catherine, we already know who our new suspect is," Nick said, stating what he thought was an obvious fact.

It was an obvious fact. Catherine knew exactly who Nick was referring to, and now wanting to discuss the suspicion growing between the two of them, she finally decided to dismiss the two of them. "Wendy, thank you for getting the results to us so quickly," she thanked as she started to leave the lab with Nick automatically following behind her.

Catherine was now heading down to her office and took a seat at her desk. Wanting to get her scrambled thoughts out of her head, she finally released the big question to Nick. "Do you fully believe that the Donnar's are innocent?"

Nick was silent for a minute. They had yet to talk to Markus, but Caleb's confession seemed like a genuine confession; it wasn't some made up story. Even if they had yet to interrogate either of them, none of the evidence had come back to them which didn't even make them proper suspects to begin with. "As much as I hate to admit it, because I feel that if I do, I am basically saying that this was all a frickin hoax and that we've wasted time following a bull shit lead. But they're innocent Catherine," Nick admitted to what he knew was the truth.

Catherine completely agreed with Nick, which led to her second conclusion. "So do you think Calvin is our new suspect?"

This was exactly what Nick was thinking as well, but his thoughts were just slightly more elaborate. "Catherine, I think he framed the Donnar's. The more I piece together everything in my mind, the more I bring my self to this conclusion that I think Calvin is the one who kidnapped Greg."

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Another one of those damn cliff hangers! You love to hate them, you hate to love them. They're just so enticing!

Also, this is our last Gregless chapter… well, for quite a while at least. But yeah, you guys have MEGA Greg angst next chapter… so WOO HOO to that, and WOO HOO for me for leaving you guys with anticipation that is going to be killing you ha ha. :D!

So what do you guys think? I'm curious :)! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and now off to my thanks :)

For favoriting, thank you gregoani

For alerting, thanks tvaddict88, hikikomori-kun, acsgrlie, and Jennypen

And for my reviewers, thank you to Lady Sally, GreggoAddict, almostkaity, VisionX23, JodsRaine, acsgrlie, and Jennypen. Ahhhh, your guy's lovely reviews… honestly, it's what keeps me posting this story for you guys.

And one more thank you… Thanks to everyone who has read my story so far. As it is great to see someone leave a review or favorite my story, it's great to also see the number of people who have read my story (or even skim it ha ha), rise every time I post a chapter. So yeah, thanks to everyone.


	11. Sick Tricks and Mind Games

Sorry that getting this chapter posted took a while. The anticipation must have been killing you ha ha. School can just really consume ones time… But thankfully I only have less then 3 months of it and then WOO HOO, GRADUATION :D! Anyway, enough about that, lets get to chapter 11 :D!

Alright, so first note, this chapter is like a flashback type thing, so that is why everything is in italics. That being said, in previous chapters, to express the characters inner thoughts, I have put them in italics. Seeming that everything is in italics, to be able to distinct the difference, the thoughts will be in regular text.

Second note… this chapter goes back and forth between perspectives SEVERAL times, so be aware of that. It's not confusing (at least I don't think it is) but yeah, it's just a heads up/FYI type thing.

Finally, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 11: Sick Tricks and Mind Games**

_Calvin Richards, the true suspect who placed a fake call to the Las Vegas Crime Lab in order to frame Caleb and Markus Donnar, was standing on his porch and watching his innocent neighbors get arrested from across the cul-de-sac. As soon as he saw Catherine walking over to the garbage cans, his heart was filled with the finest of glee. Seeing that she had proven to be the CSI that he had scene over the years and that she found the planted bait that he knew would be enough to convict his stubborn yet vulnerable neighbors, he was just filled with this inner sensation. Then when he saw them being escorted over toward the police cars, his pride was reeking with success; his plan couldn't have worked out more perfectly. _

_The Donnar's had been gone for a while now though - escorted away in a police car – so he could only patiently wait for Nick Stokes and Catherine Willows to make their way over to his house to question him, the innocent witness. It wasn't long after that he saw the two of them leaving the Donnar's house and then making their way across the cul-de-sac and over to his house. _

_Putting on the persona of the always friendly neighbor, he began to wave and great the two CSI's to whom he already knew with a plastic smile on his face. "Well hi there."_

"_Good morning sir. I'm Catherine Willows, and this is my partner Nick Stokes. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and I understand that you were then one who called in your neighbors?"_

"_Yes, I am the one who called it in, and listen, I didn't mean for them to get arrested, but with the way those screams sounded, I mean, they sounded pained; I knew I had to call it in, but I didn't know it was going to be this serious," Calvin said, faking his sympathy. Though his face was expressing sorrow, he was completely ecstatic; playing the innocent persona was simply fantastic._

"_No Sir-."_

"_Oh honey, I apologize; my name is Calvin Richards, but please, call me Calvin" he interrupted so to fully relax her and place her in a world without suspicions, all by asking that he used his common name. Seeing the gentle smile along her lips, his intentions had already proved to of worked. _

"_Well, Calvin, you did the right thing calling them in. You gave us a tip that has already been a massive help in our current investigation. You have no reason to apologize. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me and my partner asked you a few questions about the Donnar's. Its standard procedure and it could help us in our investigation."_

"_Oh of course Ms. Willows, I would be happy to help. I don't know if he has said anything to you, but Captain Brass came over here just before you guys showed up and I told him that I was willing to cooperate by any means. I truly just want to help," Calvin said, assuring to fill the two CSI's with false hopes. _

"_And if you two would like, we could go inside and sit down; it would be more comfortable," he then added, his voice insistent. This would be one of the moments that he would take the most pride in if it perfectly worked to his benefit. He had no doubt that these two CSI's would eventually find out that he was guilty, but this moment was a key component in his whole sadistic plan. He wanted to invite Nick and Catherine into his home and to have them leave with think that he was still the innocent suspect. So when they found out that he was in fact that suspect, the real kidnapper, they could have the shock written on their faces when they found out that they were in the house at the same moment Greg was._

"_Yes thank you; that would be nice," the two of them replied, agreeing to his offer. _

_As Nick then continued to make his way up the porch steps, Calvin then saw a hand reach out at him offering a hand shake. "Mr. Richards, I wanna thank you," Nick said with genuine gratitude. _

_Calvin took his hand and shook it, as it was a gentlemen's gesture, but this hand shake meant more, and he knew it, and it also gave him an opportunity to seamlessly taunt Nick Stokes. "Well, your welcome Mr. Stokes, but thank you for what?" he asked, with mock appreciation. _

"_Thank you for being so cooperative. Right now, we'll basically take anything we can get, and I know that Catherine and I, we both greatly appreciate you being so accommodating and helpful. It really means a lot," Nick pathetically admitted. _

_Calvin loved how helpless and lost Nick's voice sounded; it was a simple pleasure. Wanting to move on though, Calvin then insisted, "How about we head inside now?" Walking toward his front door and opening it, he ushered in the two CSI's while adding in the clever embellishment of, "After you."_

_The two of them then entered his home and walking in just behind them, Calvin then pointed out the living room at the end of the hallway. "You guys can make your self comfortable in the living room down the hall there, just past the door on the left," instructed Cal, and had Nick and Catherine known it, he intentionally pointed out the door that would lead then to Greg, and that the hallway they were walking down, Greg could hear their heavy footsteps against the hardwood floor right above him. Making their way into the cozy living room, they had no idea of the shear horror taking place in the basement directly below them._

_Hearing Nick and Catherine sit in the living room right above him, Greg saw his chance to yell for help and get their attention. But as he opened his mouth, before he could release the first syllable, Mark unexpectedly shoved an old rag into Greg's mouth to silence him. Greg instantly began to choke once he tasted the foul flavor of grease and grime that was weaved into the threads of the gag. As a reaction and wanting to relieve himself of this disgusting taste, Greg tried to spit out the rag, but Mark saw his efforts and without hesitation clamped his thick hand over Greg's mouth, forcing him to keep the putrid silencer down his throat. His voice was his last and final hope in getting Nick and Catherine's attention, and now with that taken away from him; in frustration of his vulnerability and failed efforts, he began to cry out heart wrenching sobs. _

_Hearing this quickly upset Mark though, seeming that the gag wasn't holding back his muffled cries, so he finally resulted in using his final persuasion. Taking out his gun and holding it in front of Greg, he then threatened him with a cruel, heartless and sadistic voice. "You make a single fuckin sound, and I swear to god, I'm gonna bring them down here and blast there little fuckin brains all over the wall as you watch, and I'll make you clean it up! So you better get this through your thick head okay! At this very moment, they're not in any harm; if they die today, it will be entirely your fault!"_

_Mark's threat panicked Greg and he quickly and fully understood what it basically entailed. _Scream and Nick and Catherine finally find me, but then their going to immediately die, and I am going to have to watch them get shot and killed, and it's going to be entirely my fault. Or, I could just sit here, and remain passive, and have them walk out the front door alive, but without them knowing that I am down here._ Greg's thoughts were racing, but basically, the end result to this whole situation, was it was a no win situation. _

_With the threat sinking in and now completely overwhelmed with his choice and realizing that there was no way that he could get Nick and Catherine's attention with out getting them killed, Greg started to cry again, only this time, louder. It ripped his hope from his soul knowing that he was going to have to be passive and listen to his friends leave the house where they were only a floorboard away from him. _

_Once Greg released his loud bawl, it both angered and worried Mark. He was refusing to allow Calvin's perfect plan to fall through just because he couldn't keep their captive quite. Mark took the gun and placed it to Greg's temple and cocked it, and then he leaned his head down next to Greg's ear so that his hot breath was creeping down Greg's ear drum, and he harshly whispered, "What did I just say? Not a fuckin sound, remember! Or hell, I could just blow out your brains right here and Nicky and Catherine up stairs can leave with the disappointment of the fact that your dead! So, I suggest, shutting the fuck up!"_

_His rampaging emotions in check and a threat in play, Greg was absolutely petrified to make a single sound or move the slightest muscle. Knowing not to ignore his volatile captors though, he still let Mark know that he understood and very hesitantly began to subtly shake his head. Agreeing to be passive, it brought Greg a new sense of helplessness; tears silently fell from his eyes. _

_Even after abiding his kidnapper's request though, the gun still remained pushed firmly against his head which Greg figured was for keeping his actions in check. After coming to this conclusion though, Greg realized that the man holding the gun to his head wasn't a nervous and anxious sap to miss-fire the lethal weapon; he was an assertive gunman who held the violent gun with confidence. Recognizing this, he figured that if he just stayed calm and relaxed, he could put his focus on the conversation beginning to take place above him. Once he started to concentrate on the conversation though, it easily distracted his fear of having a gun pressed to his temple which helped to put him slightly at ease._

_Right away, it was clear to Greg that Catherine had taken the lead in the interrogation; even though the voice was muffled, it was feminine. Regardless of who was leading the questioning though, the voices were still muffled through the floor boards which made it more complicated to hear every bit of the conversation. At times he would catch full phrases, but other times he couldn't make out a single word; he could only hear Cal's fake sympathy or Catherine's heavy sighs. Though what Greg was able to clearly catch of the questioning, he could tell that the conversation consisted of routine questions that any CSI would ask someone who they believed was a witness. With what Cal was telling her though, it was obvious that he was basically just telling her all the events that had happened to him, only he simply changed the perspectives; from suspect to witness. This truly was all just a sick game to him._

_As the questioning continued though, the standard questions began to pass and Greg could tell that they were starting to lead into a more personal direction which he hated. Greg had come to the disturbing realization that Cal had already known him rather well, but having Catherine unintentionally further accentuate and embellish that fact, it sickened him. Greg then felt that sickening disturbance rise in his stomach when he over heard Catherine's next question. _

"_Well if I showed you a picture of our missing guy, could you tell us if you have scene him?"_

Catherine please don't_ his mind desperately called. With Cal already knowing him on a personal level, showing him a picture would give Cal another personal piece of paraphernalia, a new perspective, and a perilous impulse to commit his spiteful act of revenge against them all. _

"_We're considering the possibility that he could have escaped by some chance, so maybe you've scene him, you just didn't know it."_

_Greg wished he had escaped, Greg wished he could escape this nightmare. And had Catherine known it, her words were practically fitting into the current trickery of this situation. _Maybe you've scene him, you just didn't know it;_ she was looking into the face of his kidnapper, she just didn't know it. _

_Being asked to look at a personal picture of his hostage, Calvin simply felt giddy with glee. It wasn't so much the picture that he took happiness in, but it was the personal aspect. "Sure, I'll take a look," he simply replied._

"_Have you scene the one on the right?"_

_Staring at her phone, his eyes were glistening and his menacing soul shimmering with seethe as his pupils locked with the portrayal of their relationship through the pixels. This had presented an inspiration to perform another inner trickery against the played CSI. He knew this was the opportunity to have her express her personal relationship with Greg. "So your friend was taken?" he asked with a fake sigh of remorse. Once he asked this, he saw a deep sadness fill her eyes. _

"_He works with us. We've know each other for about 10 years."_

_It wasn't exactly the response he was hoping for, but he knew how he could get more out of her. "That's a long time," he commented on first. Then adding a key component to his fake sorrow, he began to play the reasoning behind why he knew Nick and Catherine were so grateful for his _help_. "So that's why you two were so thankful, because I helped bring in the criminals that kidnapped your friend. I unfortunately have not scene your friend," he said with a fake dismay, seamlessly mocking their appreciation. He then handed back her phone. _

_Greg heard Cal prying around Catherine's picture, trying to get her to admit to the relationship he already knew about, and though she didn't openly fall for the bait, Cal still managed to plaster guilt inside of her. After hearing her heavy sigh of dismay though, it was then that he had realized something. There were really only two voices carrying out the interrogation; Catherine and Cal's. Nick had said but two words. Knowing Nick, Greg knew that it was odd for him to be as silent as he was. Usually he would demand to take the lead in questionings and interrogations, so the fact that Greg only really heard his voice once, it puzzled him as to why. _

_Thinking back to one particular case a couple years ago with a young girl named Cassie McBride, he remembered that there were times when Nick would get really quite. Everyone had later figured out that this was due to Nick's inner intuition, his gut feeling. During the investigation, everyone, including himself, had considered the possibility that Cassie was dead, but Nick was the one who had refused to believe it. Once he was able to piece together his suspicion though, following his gut and his determination, Nick ended up finding Cassie and saving her life. _

_Greg was hoping that Nick's silence was due to something along the lines of this. His mind pondering an intuition, having an inner doubt, knowing in the back of his mind that Cal wasn't the saint he was portraying, that really behind the mask of a reliable witness was a conniving, methodical, and sadistic liar. Catherine was obviously oblivious to Cal's deceitful trickery, so his hope solely rested on Nick._

_Observing Catherine, Cal could see that there was almost a spirit of defeat looming in her sorrow eyes. But how he interpreted the hollow gleam wasn't portrayed in her next question. With a voice of doubt, she questioned him, "Mr. Richards, I have one more question for you. This is just standard procedure and we are required to ask this, but do you think we could take a look around your house a little bit. As I said it's standard procedure."_

_Calvin was put on edge by this question. Never did he even begin to consider if he would be asked this; he was just the witness. He was filled with an inner panic though seeing the threats from both perspectives if he were to answer this question wrong. If he said yes to her request, he would dodge a possible suspicion from Catherine, but then she would have free range to search his home, open access to his basement, and to his hostage. If he said no though, he would have the security to prevent Catherine from searching his home, but it could raise her suspicion; she could question why the innocent witness was now finally denying his helpful services. _

_Hearing Catherine's request, Greg's heart was briefly filled with relief seeing a chance for them to find him, but it quickly passed once he considered what Cal's response would be. He figured that Cal's answer would go one of two ways. If he said yes, it would give him a further chance to taunt and mock Nick and Catherine. He would be giving them the ultimate ability to search his home, the ultimate chance to find him, and if they failed, it would give Cal the ultimate glory to further torment them. If was the key word though, and it would be a dangerous risk. Nick and Catherine finding him in the basement wasn't apart of Cal's plan, and if he gave them free range to search him home meant that if they went to search the basement, he wouldn't be able to stop them, and low and behold, Nick and Catherine would find him. Coming to this conclusion, Greg assumed that Calvin would probably say no. He didn't want to give them the chance to find him, at least not while in the house. Inviting Nick and Catherine into his home was, though Greg hated to admit it, a rather clever and very sadistic plan. It was very well devised and well thought out and he knew Cal wanted to see succeed, and allowing Nick and Catherine to find him would completely ruin it; that was not apart of the plan. His thoughts held a silver lining though. If Cal refused Catherine's simple request, Greg hoped that at least Catherine, or Nick, would see a suspicion in his refusal, which would turn his phony perspective of the witness into the deceiving and misleading suspect. _

"_Ms. Willows, I am sorry to say this, but that is where I have to draw the line at my cooperation. I have nothing to hide, and I'm sorry but I don't want two cops, or CSI's, snooping around my house for no particular reason. It's an invasion of my privacy, and I do like my privacy. If you guys want to look around my house, then I have to say that you two need to get your self a warrant," Calvin tried to reply as sternly, yet humbly as possible. Adding the reasoning behind his denial he figured would benefit him seeming that it would explain his decision in a way that would be hard to argue. _

"_We would need probable cause to get a warrant sir. As I said, it's just a standard procedure."_

_He could tell that Catherine was now trying to justify herself which gave Calvin a confidence. The suspicion that he feared had gone completely over Catherine's head. "Well you're gonna need to find your self probable cause to search my house. I am willing to help you bring to justice the two men who kidnapped your friend, but I'm just a witness, not a suspect, as far as I'm aware. So I'm sorry, but my house, it's not a place for you to search free range," he further explained, defending his privacy in a reasonable manner. _

_After establishing his thoughts, Greg wasn't the least bit surprised when he heard Cal refusing Nick and Catherine. But, even though it was expected, Greg was still saddened. This was the only other chance that Greg considered would allow Nick and Catherine to find him. Though with Catherine's next words, Greg realized that it was his last chance. _

"_Well Mr. Richards, I want to thank you again for all your help today, but I think that its time that we should be taking off now." _

_Though not hearing every piece of the conversation taking place above him, that last sentence, he heard every syllable, and it his heart sank. He was hoping that at least the questioning would go on long enough that Cal would slip up and give Nick and Catherine a vital hint so that they would question the guilty man, but with Catherine lost in her played sense of oblivion and Nick lost in something, he didn't hold much hope that they would find him. Any chance left for them to save him would soon be gone and though he knew it, it still doomed him inside, for this thought turned reality, was a fate that he dreaded. _

_The footsteps above him echoed again, clearly affirming their departure. He first heard the clicking heels from Catherine's shoes starting to distance their self from him, and Greg officially knew that they were leaving. Following were a man's shoes, but due to the fact that there were two men upstairs, he didn't know who they belonged to. Greg heard the high heels pass the door that lead to his prison, and it once again showed Catherine's oblivion to the false atmosphere of hope surrounding her. It was only Nick that could open the door now. Though lost of hope, a part of him was still holding on to what shrivel he had left. Holding his high hopes that Nick would randomly open the basement door and walk down the stairs and rescue him._

_Then the unexpected happened, and it was just that hope that Greg needed. _

_The loud heavy rock of Greg's ringtone filled the silent room; the song __Feel Like Makin' Love __burst through his phones small speakers. Hearing the unexpected noise, panic instantly began to flood through Mark's veins. He removed the gun from Greg's head and quickly scrambled for the phone was sitting on a table off to the side of the room. Before the ringtone could repeat its chorus's line, he discontinued what was a phone call and shut off the device. It was possible though, the damage could have already been done._

_Everything was still, the air silent and empty. _

_In the basement, Mark held back his heavy breathing and refused to move a muscle, not wanting to give away any sign to the presence that he knew stopped in front of the basement door. Greg on the other hand wasn't as silent. His body was frozen with anxious yet hopeful anticipation that was beating his heart to a pulp. He had the chance to scream for help, but he still didn't want to jeopardize his life, or Nick or Catherine's life, so he remained vocally silent. With the painful anticipation flooding through his veins, his breathing naturally became heavy and hitched, but with Greg's hope still desperately fighting to hold on, he figured that in it was a long shot hope, but if his breathing was heavy enough, the presence in front of the door was Nick, and if he could hear him. _

"_Nick, what is it?" he heard Catherine ask, and her response greatly helped to identify who was in front of the door that lead to him. _

"_Did you hear that?" Greg then heard Nick question. _Nick, please, open the door_his mind desperately called. _

"_Hear what?" Catherine's oblivion was still present; his fate was now lying with Nick's intuition. _

"_Calvin, what's in here?" _I'm in here! Please open the door Nick!

_Although the women standing next to him couldn't hear the random noise that barely came through the cracks of the basement door, Calvin heard it loud and clear. Seeing Nick stop just next to the door filled him with an inner terror that he tried his absolute hardest to keep hidden inside, for with just the simple turn of the knob, and his plan and his kidnapping would be ruined, just because he didn't take the precaution and carelessly forgot to shut off Greg's phone. _

"_It's just a room for storage. Why do you ask?" _

_Once Greg heard Cal's misleading lie, he practically began to break under the frustration of his helplessness. With this response, there was no reason for Nick or Catherine to question other wise. It was a straight forward response that didn't require any further explanation. _

_Cal's lie worked though. The footsteps in front of the door continued again and proceeded to make their way to the front door, leaving behind Greg's mutilated hope sitting broken in a heap at the bottom of his heart. Within the eerie silence of the atmosphere, the footsteps had never been heard more clearly then at this moment, their hallow departure resounding the empty room. _

"_Nicky, what is it; what are you looking at?" Greg heard Catherine ask._

_But there was never a response. _

_Greg's hope had finally been defeated, and as he felt the rhythmic departure of Nick stomping down the stairs of the porch steps, Greg officially knew that Nick was gone. _

"_So I guess we are going to take off now. Sorry that my colleague didn't formally say good bye to you, but I will on his behalf. I want thank you again for all your help Calvin. We both greatly appreciate everything that you've helped us with."_

Catherine, please don't thank him_ his mind silently wept. Thanking the man who was just toying with her, playing her, and would later be tormenting her heart, it broke him inside to see her so blindly lead, the keen Catherine Willows so drastically misinformed. His broken emotions taking over him, Greg lowered his head and began to sulk in his own despair; his tears falling freely as he silently cried them._

"_Oh, once again, I was just glad that I was able to help," Calvin commented with a fake humbleness as he shook her hand. _

_Catherine had finally left as well, making her way down the porch steps, but before she got into the car, Calvin yelled back at her one final comment. "And Ms. Willows, please, come back at anytime." Though it was made to look like generous and casual invitation, it was actually posed as another trick. Calvin knew that they would be back, and he just wanted to make sure that she knew her presence was welcome. _

_Catherine had finally made it to the car and got into the drivers seat. Calvin knew that Nick was rather stressed while being in the house, and he knew that it was due to an inner suspicion, and he took pride in seeing how it had affected him. He had made his way back into his home, shutting the door behind him, but he still continued to watch Nick and Catherine. The realization of what he just accomplished now fully sinking in, it gave him this feeling of pure splendor. He was relishing his smarts and his confidence, gloating in his inner pride the ability to pull off this brilliantly meticulous plan of genius and have it perfectly succeed. _

_But it wasn't enough. _

Just one more push, is all I need_ he grimly thought with glee. _

_Knowing exactly what he wanted to do, he quickly ran over to his living room and grabbed his video camera from his computer desk and ran back to the front door. "I think it's time that you two receive that second video now," he spoke with a slimy voice and a twisted grin. _

_And with that, the recording began._

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So there was chapter 11 for you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. And now for my thanks to my readers.

For adding my story to their favorites list and for alerting, thank you Alice L. Rem.

And for the reviews, thank you Didde, JodsRaine, VisionX23, Crimescenelover, GregFAN D, LovingYourWork, Catindahat, and almostkaity. The reviews that you guys left on my previous chapter, hands down, the best set of reviews for a chapter that I have received to date. I loved all of them and I greatly appreciate all of your kind words.

And a question for you guys… when did you guys as readers start to suspect Calvin? Was it just his name that made you ponder whether he was the kidnapper? Or were you guys convinced that the Donnar's did it? I am very curious so please enlighten me on your thoughts and junk. I would LOVE to know!

And one final thing, just in case anyone want to know, this was the idea that started my story. I was just brainstorming about 2 years ago and this whole premise for a story came to mind. I thought it was a really sick and twisted idea to bring Nick and Catherine into the house and have Greg in the house too, but they had no idea… and I personally think it worked out really well :) So, what do you guys think?

So adios for now I guess. Next chapter is another Greg chapter, and yeah… I kinda… break him… I guess could be a proper word.


	12. A Video For Nick and Catherine

Seeming that this chapter is still set in a flashback, the words once again are in italics and the thoughts and emphasized words are in regular text. Other then that, enjoy chapter 12.

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**Chapter 12****: A Video For Nick and Catherine **

_His mental torment had formed in his mind as to create this video as a reminis__cent tour for the viewers to be, Nick Stokes and Catherine Willows, and their blindly lead misfortune. _

_The opening view began with Calvin having the camera firmly fixed on the Tahoe that was parked up against the sidewalk over near the Donnar's residence. The two baffled CSI's sat in the car and Calvin was assuming that they were talking about the jumble of information that they had received within the past hour or so._

_As the camera silently held its distant view upon Nick and Catherine from the security of his home, Calvin began to fantasize about how the two of them would react once seeing the video. He only wished that he would be able to see the inconceivable realization of shock that would be wiped across their grim stricken faces. He knew it would resemble a superb reaction of emotion. _

_Calvin wanted this fantasy to become a reality though, even if it wouldn't be for his viewing pleasure. A__nd he knew exactly how to translate that desire to the audience. Calvin began to give the video its voice._

"_Now, what we see here is two hopeless CSI's by the names of Nick Stokes and Catherine Willows stuck at a rather hopeless dead end. They have two innocent suspects in custody, invaluable evidence, and pointless and misguided leads. But all this seemingly potential hope isn't going to bring them any closer to finding their missing co-worker and friend, CSI Greg Sanders. But if they weren't so desperate for a lead, they might have been able to see past my bull shit and figured out that I was in fact a suspect, that I was the real kidnapper, that they were in the same house that Greg was in, with only a floorboard separating them from their tormented and tortured friend. Desperation can both benefit and inhibit a human being; it can bring a person to fight, even at the brink of survival, or it can blindly lead two keen professionals." _

_His words were dripping with a disgusting bile of mockery. His voice was gloating with the inevitable truth. By the time that they saw this video, Calvin knew that the truth of his actions would have been discovered and their conscience would be overshadowed with guilt. His whole plan was to torment their remorseful minds, remind them of what had really happened. _

_Though they were still sitting across the street, their car unmoved, Calvin left this sight and began to give a tour of events through the house. He began to lead the view of the camera down the hall, heading past the door to the basement and making his way to the living room. _

"_So, Nick and Catherine, as I know you remember this room, the room that you interviewed me, the _innocent witness_, in. It was a rather fun role to play; I was surprised at how naturally the lies were able to flow out of me, and it obviously delivered a flawless performance. I almost thought I was pushing it, making it sound too fake as I was delivering lines like _I just want to help. I hope he's okay. What kind of sick man would do this?_ All the while, as I just simply played you two to an inevitable oblivion, Greg was right under you." Calvin stated this with a cold voice and a devious smirk as this was the sheer fact that he really wanted to embellish in this video. As then a crude gesture, he stomped his foot on the floor, allowing the hollow echo to reverberate through out the room and implying the fact that Greg was trapped in the depths of the basement below them. Adding one further embellishment to the tormenting reality of this fact, Calvin then added, "And Greg sat there, with a gun cocked to his head, listening to you thanking me for helping you." _

_Without another word, the reminiscent tour continued as Calvin left the living room and walked over toward the basement door. __"Now this little door right here, it has one story to tell. First off, I pointed it out, remember, right as you two entered my house. _You guys can make your self comfortable in the living room down the hall there, just past the door on the left,"_ he restated as he knocked on the door as a crude action, giving the same effect as he did when he stomped on the ground in the living room. _

"_And it wasn't just that," he continued, he voice filled with a yearning temptation that just needed to be heard. "Nick… you stopped, right here, right in front of the door, and it was because you heard something, something that I knew you recognized, something that was familiar to you. It was Greg's ringtone! Hell, the damn stalker recognized it before you did! That actually wasn't even supposed to happen! It was a stupid and careless mistake on my part, not checking to see if the sound, hell if the phone its self was shut off. That was a moment where I was on the verge of freaking out. I was scared shitless thinking that this could all be over, my methodical plan ruined. And that moment, it was even a chance for you to rescue Greg! Well thank god that you two were so blinded by desperation that you were willing to follow any lead and were completely ignoring your gut, your intuition. Nick, if you had heard that ringtone and you knew what it was, when I told you that you couldn't search my house, piecing those to puzzle pieces together, you would have had a reason to obtain a warrant and then you wouldn't be watching this video right now. But because you were so blinded by desperation, you ignored what was right in front of you. Hell, what was one of Grissom's famous and favorite sayings, _"The first witness is always the first suspect." _You should have listened to him Nick, honored the fact that you were his favorite student, learned from him. Those are wise words from a wise man. Maybe if you had listened to him, you wouldn't have left Greg, maybe you wouldn't have screwed over your one chance to save him. I mean, how does that feel, knowing that you left your best friend in my hands. But hell, I think a better question would be how do you think that makes our poor Greggo feel? His friends, the keen, smart and professional CSI's, you two are the ones that he's holding out his high hopes for. His life is in your hands basically, and yet, all you can do is ignore your guts and walk away." By this point, Calvin couldn't even attempt to modestly mock their blinded arrogance; he could only smear the reality in their faces, gloating the truth with a smug laughter. _

"_Now, I am sure that Greg is just dying for you two to see him. I mean it was such a shame that you couldn't see him, __but hell, I think the grim reality of this situation speaks for its self and perfectly explains why I simply couldn't allow that. Anyway, let's go down and visit Greggo now, as I said, I am sure that he is dying to say hi to you two." Calvin then opened the door, but as his hand grasped the door knob, a smile played along his lips, and like with Greg, he just couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with Nick. "See Nick, just a simple turn of the knob and it would have lead you to Greg. All of this could have been prevented and all of this could have been over." Cal then stepped foot into the room, and started to walk down the stairs, and as he made his way down to the ground floor, the videos required view became visible. _

_When Greg heard the door open, as force of habit, he looked up at the presence making its way down the stair case. Though this was an inconceivable possibility that was driven by desperation, Greg hoped that the hollow echo from the stair case were from Nick and Catherine's footsteps, that they had returned to the house and were going to save him. But his mind had determined that this was just his hope talking, so it was of absolutely no surprise to Greg when he saw Cal walking down the stairs, along with a video camera in his hand. He had heard Cal talking up stairs and was confused as to who he was talking to. Greg immediately came to the conclusion that he was making another video. _

_With this realization, it distressed Greg to know that what ever Cal was going to do to him, when Nick and Catherine watched this video, he knew that their conscience would be swarmed with the fact that they were watching what they could have prevented. This thought even hurt him. In no way did Greg blame Nick and Catherine on the fact that they didn't rescue him. He could even admit to himself that Cal was rather convincing as a reliable witness so it wasn't a surprise to him that with how desperate Nick and Catherine were to find him or maybe even find a lead if they didn't have one, that they believed his every word. Still, Greg felt abandoned. He knew that by no means were Nick and Catherine leaving the house this intentional, but the emptiness he felt wasn't shy to shatter his shallow remains of hope. As Cal had continued to approach him, the video camera scrutinizing him, Greg turned his head and looked away, refusing to make eye contact with its lens. _

_As Calvin had approached his hopeless victim, he saw him turn his head away, determined not to look at the camera, disallowing his lost depths in his soulless eyes to translate through the camera lens. Greg had officially seemed lost. Calvin was waiting for this, to see this weakness in his victim, this moment of emptiness, abandonment. "And here's Greg!" Calvin said with a mock excitement in his voice, taunting the viewers to be, pretending to be surprised, teasing the shock that they knew would be wiped across their faces. _

_As Mark began to approach him, Calvin handed over the video camera to him and after took out his knife as he walked toward Greg. With he sharp weapon that caused a substantial amount of grueling pain against Greg and his burnt body, his eyes came back into contact with him, watching the knife closely as it danced in front of his vision. Calvin knew that this knife held a fearful intrigue within Greg, and Greg had the right to be fearfully intrigued with it. _

_With his eyes now scrutinizing him, Calvin began to playfully tease his victim with the crushed hopes. "So Greg, I've got to ask, do you still think they're going find you? I mean, they were just in the house, not even five minutes ago. Hell, they could still be outside sitting in their car! They were in this house, right above you… AND NICK… he even stopped in front of the door! And I know you heard EVERYTHING! So, are you still holding your high hopes for Nick and Catherine to come save you? I mean Greg… they were in the damn house. Everything I told them, it was all what they wanted to hear. They were blinded by desperation. They ignored the fact that they didn't have any true legitimate evidence and they were so desperate for something to follow up on that I spoon fed them a lead that was utter and complete bull shit, and they swallowed every last bit of it!" Calvin was practically screaming the reality of the situation at Greg, hammering the facts that would justify his hopelessness into him mind. Eyes of sick amusement were glaring at Greg and he could see that tears were falling freely from his eyes. "So Greg, you wanna say anything to the camera?" he continued to mock his hopeless victim, teasing his with a chance to say some possibly final words. _

_With his hope practically diminished, Greg just wanted to make him self invisible, erase himself completely from his present psychological torment. Still refusing to make contact with the camera, his gaze was still fixed upon one of his still blood pools, giving his mind something to stare at, and his voice remained silent. He wanted to reduce himself to something that was nothing more then a lifeless looking figure that was bound to a chair. _

_Seeing the detached nature that Greg presented in him self, it started to put into a perspective of how lost Greg actually was. It gave Calvin a distorted sense of accomplishment. Continuing to fuck with Greg though, he began to remind his victim of a consequence that he could receive from ignoring him. "Greg, don't ignore me," he simply threatened. _

_Greg remained still though, his mind numb to the core; caring at this point seemed over-rated. _

_With the silence continuing, Calvin was beginning to grow agitated. Greg was beginning to establish a careless nature which was exactly what Calvin didn't want him to inhibit. Placing his threat from before, Calvin viciously grabbed a handful of Greg's hair again and firmly held the knife to his throat. "Listen Sanders, don't you fuckin think that you can ignore me now just because this is over for you. Answer my question or you'll never talk to them again!"_

_Though he had heard the threat, Greg was completely unfazed by it. Looking at Cal with his hollow eyes, he was looking at him as if questioning, why? Greg felt as if he had already given up. Cal had already won and his life as he knew it beyond this point would cease to exist. Cal's threats were almost intriguing to him and his sense of helplessness now. He desperately wanted to escape this nightmare and without a doubt, death seemed to the easiest way out. It wouldn't take much to make this bastard snap and the knife to his neck; all Cal needed to do was simply pierce that vital artery and then everything, it would all be over. _

_But, as much as Greg wanted to escape from this nightmare, he didn't want to escape from his life. The thought of death even scared him; it petrified him to the core. The simplicity of just everything being done, gone, obliterated, it just wasn't worth giving up, worth losing. Greg began to get overwhelmed with emotion, considering the sanctity of life and death. It was Cal's threatening tone that brought him back into reality. _

"_Greg! Do you want say something to Nick and Catherine? And don't fuckin ignore me!" he bluntly stated as he pressured the knife harder against Greg's craned neck._

_A recognizable sanity finally pushed through Greg's dark depths of despair. From the very beginning, he had been fighting for his life, and he wasn't going to give up, especially not now, not after all he has already been through, not after making it this far. His rationality returned and he finally responded to Cal's question. It was to Cal's surprise though, Greg's response. Greg shook his head no. He figured that all he had to say to them was to ask them to save him, but Greg knew that this was already a request that they were trying to fulfill. Saying this as well, he figured, would just make them feel guiltier about being so blindly misled. These were the people who he knew were putting every strain of energy to find him, and he did believe that there was still that chance. _

_His captive had finally answered him, but it was the answer that Calvin was expecting, or hoping for. Tormenting Greg mentally was beginning to turn into a hobby and he was snooping around every opportunity that he had to taunt him. Greg answer though didn't leave him with this chance though. But still, he managed to find his way. "Well, are you sure Greg? I mean, these could be your last words to them," he suggested with a sick play in his voice. _

_Greg didn't bite the bait though. Answering Cal's question, like before, he shook his head no._

_Calvin's eyes narrowed; they were beady. He was upset with being denied again he chance to mess with Greg, but it also put a perspective into his mind. His distorted means of play, he realized that he was wasting time. Nick and Catherine would return to his house, but as far as knowing when, he was clueless. It was time to stop messing around. _

"_That's fine," Calvin scoffed. "Allowing you to use your breath on pointless and possibly final words to them would just have been a waste. I would much rather you conserve the strength of your hoarse and raw vocal cords for something other then desperate… words." _

_The knife that was still pressed up against Greg's throat finally began to remove its self. The knife glided along Greg's craned neck and Calvin began to trace down the hot skin of his shoulder, making its way down the length of his arm. _

_Greg instantly was curious, but worried. He was thankful that the deathly weapon was removed from his neck, but what was it doing down near his hands now. Worried as to what sick thought was wondering around Cal's distorted brain, Greg clenched his fists together to at least protect his fingers. _

_Calvin saw Greg's simple gesture of his hands and it made his skin quiver with glee. Greg knew something was going to happen and Calvin knew that he would be wiping Greg's mind with horror. Greg's fist of his left hand was easy to break apart. With the knife, just as a taunting gesture, he began to trace the creases in his hand with the knife, careful not to break the skin. But Greg's rising panic, he began to thrash his hands around and with a quick slip, the knife sliced into Greg's skin, cutting him perfectly across his hand._

"_Oh, now look what you did to your self Greg. You know, if you stop struggling, you probably won't hurt your self as much," he suggested with a tease in his voice. _

_The cut across his hand felt deep and the sharp sting surrounding his palm felt like it was beginning to expand throughout his hand. Greg was trying to hold back his tears, but the pain in his hand was practically making them push through his ducts. He desperately wanted a reprieve from this pain, but knowing Cal, this was nothing compared to what his mind probably had planed. Cal even said, he brought this pain upon himself, so what pain would he be issuing?_

"_I bet this is where you wish that it would end. But I am sure you know me better then that Greg. I never settle with inconveniences and I always follow through," Calvin said with a blank voice as he began to clasp his hand around the base of Greg's thumb. "You see Greg, as I said; I have no doubt in my mind that Nick and Catherine will return to this house. They have to innocent suspects in custody who would be absolutely brain dead if they didn't plead their innocence. Plus, they are CSI's, figuring shit out like this, it's what they do. But, when they come back, we won't be here, but I want to give them a way to immediately identify the fact that you were here, that you were in this house. So… that is why I am doing this." With the knife in his hand, Calvin took the vicious carving tool and placed it at the tip of Greg's thumb. Smoothly sliding the knife beneath the layer of skin, in one quick movement, Calvin had cut off the layer of skin and had removed Greg's thumb print. _

_It was instantaneous, his bellowing cry. Greg began to scream as loud as his lungs would carry, verbalizing his agony. It felt like Cal was taking the blow torch from earlier and was burning his thumb off. The pain that was penetrating his thumb began to make his stomach contract, his body not knowing any other way to reprieve the sharp string that was engulfing his thumb. But as he saw the flimsy layer of skin placed on the table next to him, Greg's stomach finally gave in and lurched forward, instantly shooting the burning bile up through his raw esophagus and on to the floor. Greg couldn't hold back his tears any longer. This was one only way that he could relieve his agony painlessly._

_Calvin was completely detached to his sense of remorse for his victim. He actually could only smile after seeing his reaction. The screams were superb as well; a symphony of anguish. He wanted Greg to be able to see it though. Knowing how the brain works, once someone actually sees the torment that they had suffered through, it can create a whole new sense of torture. He wanted Greg to see the horror of his bleeding thumb, so Calvin cut the zip tie and tape that had kept Greg's strained arms bound behind him. _

_Once Greg felt his arms released, he threw his hands in front of him and looked at his now unidentifiable thumb. It was a bleeding mess that wouldn't stop gushing blood and it had begun to cover his lap. With no shirt on - so no cloth to help to stop or control the bleeding - Greg resorted to using the rag that was shoved in his mouth. Regardless of what Cal would say, he took out the gag and wrapped his bleeding thumb in the salvia and grime soaked rag. After doing this though, Greg couldn't decide over what felt worse; the burning pain of his wound unattended or the burning pain that he received when the bacteria drenched rag made contact to his skinless flesh. All he wanted was a reprieve from this burning pain, but he didn't know how. _

_Calvin, still holding on to the knife, made his way in front of Greg now. Knowing what he wanted to do, he knelt down and took the knife and cut the tape from Greg's legs. Without saying a word to his distressed captive, Cal then stood back up and walked over to Mark and began to exchange words in silence between each other while the camera still held on Greg. _

_Greg just continued to sit in the chair though, holding his bleeding thumb in the disgusting cloth, grimacing at the burning pain. While Greg was attempting to tend his bleeding mess of a thumb, he was finally distracted with the reality of the fact that he was untied, for the first time since his abduction. Taking to notice this, he then saw Mark and Cal talking with each other on the opposite side of the room as he was. Taking to value of his non-restrains, he knew that if there was a proper moment, an opportunity would surely present its self and he could try to escape. _

_Quickly devising a plan, he silently waited for that pristine opportune moment to come. He had taken to consideration of what Cal had said earlier about Nick and Catherine still being in the parking lot and figured that if they were still there, he could get outside and run to his rescue. Putting together this drastically uplifting thought, his heart rate was increasing and adrenalin began to course through his veins. It was then that Cal had turned his back and now both of his kidnappers were occupied with something other then him, and it was then that Greg acted upon his potential escape. _

_In an immediate instant, Greg bolted from the chair and ran toward the stairs in front of him and without skipping a beat, began to run up them two at a time. He was careless to the fact of how much noise he was making. With his desperate attempt to escape, he had already known that as he ran up the stairs, the echo of the floor boards would resound through out the room and would get Cal and Marks attention. But Greg didn't care. All he wanted to do was get out of this house and away from these sadistic bastards. How it happened was irrelevant. _

_It was to no surprise that with all the noise that Greg had in fact made that it caught Cal and Mark's attention. Turning their heads, they both saw Greg making his way up the stairs and as a reaction, Mark immediately began to run after him. Though by the time Mark even reached the stair case, Greg was already around the corner and heading for the front door. _

_Greg had remembered the layout of the house from when he first entered his prison and the layout had been refreshed after hearing Nick and Catherine wonder around the house. Knowing where the front door was, he immediately ran toward it and went to open it. But it was locked. _

_The inconvenience of the locked door had unexpectedly thrown Greg off. His adrenaline spiking, staring at his exit, at his escape, and now hearing the clamoring march of heavy soles storming up the stair case quickly getting closer and closer, Greg began to panic. He desperately tried to fiddle with the two locks, but neither of the combinations of the released locks seemed to work; he was still trapped in this prison. He even resorted to pulling on the handle; repeatedly jerking the door that was securely trapped between its frame. Without turning around, he could then hear the heavy huff of an enraged beast behind him quickly approaching. In some means of a last stitch effort, Greg simply just started to bang his fists as hard as he could against the door while screaming, "NICK HELP M-!"_

_Greg's desperate cries abruptly ended though as his head came to contact with the door. There was a strong force that kicked him in his back which was what caused the sudden silence in Greg's voice as not only was his breath was stolen from him, but his head hit the door as well. His head had already begun to throb from the dull force which had started to daze him. But as he felt a thick hand wrap around his mouth again, a strong arm wrap around his arms and secure them behind his back in a vice-like hold, and he was led away from his escape, Greg's dazed sense left him and he immediately began to struggle against his captor again. _

"_Stop struggling you stupid prick!" Greg heard Mark snap at him which gave Greg a confidence boost. His lack of cooperation was driving his kidnapper mad, but it was also showing that maybe Mark was having a hard time controlling him. The distinction of this though truly gave Greg the upper hand in this quarrel. _

_Continuing to resist his kidnapper, as they approached the basement door, Greg unexpectedly shot his feet up and shoved back against the wall and sent the two of them flying against the opposite wall. After hitting the wall, Greg then bit the hand that was wrapped around his mouth and this was the action that was enough and Greg was released from his kidnappers hold and he was sent falling to the ground. _

_Released from his arms, Greg quickly turned around to see who had grabbed him and like at the warehouse, it was once again the brawn of this operation, Mark. Seeing who it was though, Greg knew that by now Mark would soon be reaching his boiling point and would probably end up snapping him in half like a twig if he got a hold of him again. Coming to this conclusion, Greg tried to get away from Mark and out of his reach, but before he could even move an inch, there was another kick brought upon his body, toward the top of back with the toe of a workman's boot. _

_Greg's body was sent flying toward and back onto the landing at the top of the stairs. The force behind that kick was enough to make the black blotches cover his vision again. His body was beginning to feel like it was breaking. His limbs felt shaky and after that kick, everything felt bruised and was throbbing with pain. For some reason though, without consciously being fully aware of this action, Greg started to lift his body up so that he was up on all fours. This was the wrong thing for him to do though._

_Mark saw his slow action and after seeing the vulnerable position that Greg had chosen, a cruel and merciless idea fluttered in his brain. Without a single second of hesitation, Mark strongly shoved his foot against Greg's body and sent him falling down the flight on stairs. _

_After the uncontrollable tumbling stopped, Greg only felt numb. His body was aching to such an extreme and unimaginable depth that he felt pain that he never knew could exist within a person. The throbbing pulsate that resounded his head didn't help in the least either; it only made everything worse, accentuating the pain that he felt that much further. At this moment, all he could do, and all he wanted to do, was lay here. He just wanted a reprieve from this nightmare. He wouldn't mind the pain in the least; he just wanted to physically and emotionally escape from this torture. _

_After Mark shoved Greg down the stairs, Calvin's first initial reaction was shock. This was a brutal action that he would never dare attempt to inflict upon his captive. Due to this extent of physical abuse that crossed his own limits, Cal was mildly concerned for Greg. _

_But Calvin's heart was black. _

_He wasn't so much concerned of whether or not Greg was hurt, he just didn't want damaged goods so that he would have to take some means of precaution while he would inflict his senseless beatings. Cal expressed absolutely no sympathy for his insignificant victim, but he could sense the pain that Greg felt as he saw his broken body lying in its heap at the bottom of the stair case. _

_Looking at the mess though, Calvin couldn't bring himself to leave it alone. Calvin knew he that he would never dare to throw it down a flight of stairs, bruising and cracking the now glass bones. But he could shatter the sense, the being, the soul. A sick, sadistic, evil sin began to permeate his distorted mentality. The emotional wreck that was lying there in its lifeless, breathing form, Cal knew that everything within was going to be destroyed. _

_Greg figured that if he stayed still, lying in a dead form long enough, Cal and Mark would assume that they had taken their torture one step too far and had killed him and would just leave his broken body here to rot away with his dying being. Greg was almost wishing that he had died though, that his neck had hit a step just right and snapped it, discontinuing this torturous thing called life. But that last remaining shrivel of hope, the conscious lifeline that still had yet to float away was still swimming around in his mind, keeping this strange sense to want to live with him. It was the fact that Cal was right. Nick and Catherine were only bound to eventually find out that Cal was the deceitful monster, the real kidnapper. They would eventually return to this house, looking to interrogate the guilty bastard. But this fading silver lining would all eventually happen. There was absolutely no telling when or when it would be too late. _

_From the corner of his eye, the swift, approaching movement of a stocky figure distracted his grim conscience of helplessness. Greg figured that his torturers knew he wasn't dead. Though his body was numb, his chest was still rising up and down, refusing to follow the consistency of dull pain that he felt everywhere, which had giving his dead sense some sense of life. As Cal approached him, Greg to see through the clouded hazy, that he finally took to notice was surrounding his vision, that Cal was holding in his hands another thick black zip tie. This was completely useless to Greg. He had absolutely no energy to fight back, and he was already restrained with pain. _

_As Calvin approached Greg, with out hesitation or consideration, he wrapped his rough hand around one of Greg's wrists and immediately dragged the limp figure over toward a less crowded area of the basement. Cal then needed to flip Greg's body over so that he was lying on his stomach. Keeping to his cruel consistency, Cal viciously twisted Greg's wrist in one direction so to turn his body over. Due to the burning and abrupt pain what swarmed Greg's now kinked wrist, his body instantly flipped over as a reflex to relieve the contorted pain. The action made him look like a flopping fish out of water. _

_With Greg now on his stomach, Cal straddled the aching body, placing his heavy weight on its back, further constricting the staggered and shallow breathing, careless to the internal anguish he was making Greg suffer through. Pulling his captives tender wrists behind his back, Cal took the long and restraint-effective zip tie and wrapped it around Greg's wrists two times, securing the plastic by pulling it tight. He unmoving body beneath him, it was rightfully evidence to Calvin that Greg was now physically broken. This was the first time that Greg didn't raise a mild complication and put up a struggle. He was far too feeble to even consider this energy straining fight. But this wasn't enough to satisfy Calvin, but he knew what he was about to do would. Standing up and standing in the always dominate view over Greg, his voice teased with play. _

"_Greg?" he heard Cal ask in a disturbing and unfortunately intriguing way. Greg turned his head so that he could see Cal's sadistic and diminutive glare, but it wasn't his sinful smirk that caught his eye. The empty abyss that controlled the depths of Greg's sense to care was hijacked and total terror engulfed everything within. Greg tried to push through his invisible restrains of pain to escape, but this was utterly futile and a wasted effort. "Cal! Please don't!" was the only sensible plead that he could form. _

_The reaction that revived a desperate sense in Greg was superb; better then Calvin ever began to envision. His subtle tease with unbuttoning his jeans provoked an obvious terror with Greg's conscience; it was simple fantastic. Then the begging, the pleading that he played fell on deaf ears, it only confirmed his thoughts; Greg knew exactly what he was going to do. His hand began to glide along Greg's naked back and tingling torso and made its way down to Greg's pants. Looping a finger through the belt loops, Cal gently pulled Greg's body over so that he was lying on his back again, his arms secured under his weight. It was now that Greg started to fight back, trying to kick at him with his legs, but it posed as no threat to Cal for his actions were sluggish and weak. He was easily able to take control of Greg's trail at resistance and once again straddled his body, but he was sitting on his legs this time. _

_Having control over Greg and his breaking spirit, it filled Calvin with an internal splendor. His hand began gliding around Greg's waist, tracing his pelvis with his sandpaper tips, and Calvin finally began to unbutton his quivering captive's jeans. Further teasing Greg, his fingers pried around the hem of his jeans and the elastic band of his boxers, pulling it back then releasing it, allowing it to snap back against his sweaty, trembling skin. _

_Calvin was beginning to get restless though. His mind was in a sick place, lost in a sadistic fantasy and he didn't want to prolong this taunting foreplay any longer. Standing up, he rolled Greg back over so that he was lying on his stomach again. Greg's horror stricken glaze was still glued with his, begging for mercy, pleading for this sick, shameful and degrading act not to occur. But the emotion in his eyes was over looked, unseen past the dark fantasy that was filtering Cal's distorted sense of humanity. _

_Getting read to perform his task though, there was one final step that would initiate the most sensational amount of mental torment and shame within Greg's damaged sanity. __"And Greg, the best part about this whole thing, is that Nick and Catherine, they get to watch," he laughed with a distorted sense and a wicked eye. _

_And its means of its everlasting impression worked. His words instantly began to filter Greg's mind with an eerie echo as they began to repeat them selves a thousand times in his mind, and they would continue to repeat them selves a thousand times more. This was the rotten cherry on top. The reality about ready to invade every fiber of his being, but if that wasn't already enough, it was going to be documented, for his agony to be scene through a million little pixels. The viewers would never forget._

_Overwhelmed by this conclusion, tears fell from his eyes, as he was unable to control them anymore, and as he saw Cal's pants fall around his ankles, the only thing that Greg could do, was scream. _

* * *

So yeah, there you have it… chapter 12. Just a small note here, some fanfics and other stories and books that I have read in the past, well when something like this has happened (you guys know what I am talking about), some writers have gone into elaborate detail. I just think it's unnecessary and I won't be going into any further detail on what happened. I still personally can't believe that I did this to him in a factional story because I love Greg Sanders. But yeah, you guys know what happened, and that's all that needs to be said. There will of course be mentions and references to it (I added this event for a reason), but just don't be expecting this raunchy and emotionally agonizing chapter involving the events of what happened to Greg… that chapter does no exist in this story.

As always, reviews are appreciated and if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask.

Now to my thanks and appreciation to my readers…

For adding my story to their favorites list, thank you to CrazyLeex and kat4u.

For alerting, thanks to CrazyLeex, readingcats, JustRememberToSmile, and bubblesquirt.

And for all of my reviewers, Didde, TheWalkingChillPill (TIS MOI, TheHappyPenguinPsychoTattoo, I KNEW IT, and WMG… Loved all you aliases and thanks for reviewing ALL my previous chapters :D) almostkaity, crimescenelover, JodsRaine, VisionX23, ObsessedGregFan, and CrazyLeex… THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES AND THEN A THOUSAND TIMES MORE FOR ALL THE REVIEWS :D! Okay, this set of reviews, this has now been the best to date! All of you guys said a lot of really nice things and I really wanna thank you all for answering my question… its fun to get somewhat of an insight of how people have interpreted events in my story. So just thank you so much for all the kind words and I hope to hear what you guys think about chapter 12.

So, that's all I got to say for right now. And a little insight for the next chapter, we have a little bit of both next chapter. Its continuing Nick and Catherine's thinking and also, what has happened to Greg :O!


	13. The Truth Revealed

Alright, so we are back in the present people. In this chapter, there are a couple things going on, but keep in mind that they are all happening at the same time. But yeah, with everything that is going on, it all comes together in a great way, I think, and I think you guys will enjoy it too :D!

Also, today I am posting this chapter with a total of 87 reviews on this story… WHICH IS TOTALLY AWESOME TO HAVE FOR MY FIRST STORY EVER. Now, this could be a lot asking from you guys, but my 18th birthday was on Monday (4/11) and I think it would be really cool to enter the triple digits and get 100 reviews :D! That's only 13 reviews from you guys (and WMG… don't go putting in all these random aliases (cause you can only post one review per chapter) to help me achieve this because I could potentially see you doing that ha ha… you and I are very determined people when it comes to reaching goals (Ex: 1112 posts by AKBF ;D))! So if you guys could help me out, that would be frickin awesome :D! But yeah, review as you wish and know that they are always appreciated, and as always, be sure to enjoy Chapter 13 :D!

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Truth Revealed**

Catherine was silent for a minute. Though what Nick had said was what she was unfortunately considering, hearing it was a whole different thing. Never did she expect to be blind sided like she had been, especially from a supposedly helpful witness. But she knew that even though they didn't have the evidence, everything was beginning to point to Calvin Richards.

"If that is a true fact," Catherine began to state, but hearing now her own words, they got caught in her throat, her mind shocked to the fact that she believed this despairing reality. Before she continued to speak though, she brought in a gulp and then a cough to clear her throat. "We're going to need to put together something so that we can convince a judge that we need a warrant to search Richards' house, and we have to do this, without any piece of physical evidence that connects Richards' to this case."

Nick had yet to consider the biter reality of this notion. But even though the really didn't have any factual proof, he was still determined to expose Calvin for the deceitful man that he was quickly turning into. "That's not necessarily true. We have record of the phone call that he made to the Police Department. That's physical evidence."

Hearing Nick say this, she knew exactly what direction this conversation was going to head. When Nick has his mind set of something, nothing else exists. If something is standing in his way, he'll refuse to let it stop him. Without a doubt this was one of those times, and no matter what she would say, she knew that Nick would have something to throw back at her. "It's just stating that he got involved Nick. He made that call as a witness. A judge is not going to issue a warrant to search the house of an innocent civilian," she reasonably explained.

"That bastard isn't innocent Catherine! And you know it god dammit!" he yelled back at her. It was her word choice of _innocent_ that had gotten under his skin, especially when they both knew he was anything but.

"Then how the hell do you propose that we prove that?" she snapped back at him. She admitted that she knew Calvin was guilty, but they couldn't return back to that house without a warrant, and as far as attaining that warrant, that was what her mind was focused on. Asking Nick this question, it without a doubt presented a determined desperation in his speech that quickly turned into a babbling, rambling mess.

"Okay, well we have Caleb's confession that we can use; the stuff against Richards. I know that he framed them Catherine, and when you think about it, they were perfect targets. They stole the van and Calvin told them not to admit to anything, so they thought we were accusing them about the kidnapping when they thought we were accusing them about the van. They also had the same first three digits of their house numbers, 161. And Calvin knew that the Donnar's were a close enough match to the physical appearance of the kidnappers seeming that he is the kidnapper, so he is also implying that the second kidnapper is a large man. Also, with parking the car at the foreclosed lot only made the Donnar's look twice as guilty because it was right next door to their house. And with Calvin making a call like the one he made, saying that he heard screaming coming from his neighbors house, who the hell would we, would _anyone_, suspect first?" he asked, further embellishing his point with the rhetorical question. "If Calvin really did frame the Donnar's, which he did, I have no doubt in my mind that he did that to completely remove the target from his back, and if that was his plan, then it sure as hell worked."

Nick had said a lot, and though it was a rambling mess, it all made sense. "Nick, I'm not going to deny, those are all very good points," she started off by saying, though to emphasize the fact that she had heard and understood everything that he had said. "But I still don't think its enough to get us a warrant," she unfortunately continued, now dropping the bomb shell.

Hearing her saying this, Nick began to grow irritable. If they were good points, then why couldn't they explain them to a judge? Still, he was determined to find a loop hole and some piece of evidence that could get them their desperately needed warrant. "Well there is what the Donnar's said about the van."

"Nick, it only implies that Richards had the van, not that he had taken Greg. We need evidence that is going to point us in the direction of Calvin, not just accusations," Catherine said, once again shooting down another one of Nick's ideas.

A frustrated sigh escaped this time, his frustration becoming visibly obvious in his every expression, whether it was his body, his eyes, or his thick Texan accent coming through again. "Well what about evidence that could supposedly place Greg in his house?"

"But we didn't collect anything from Calvin's house," she implied.

"What about the marks that I saw on Calvin's door?"

"What about them?"

"What if that's a sign of a struggle? That could place Greg at his house!"

"Or a judge could say that it was an accident and someone tripped! Nick we don't have any pictures of the door, we don't have any shoe impressions to compare it, Nick we don't have anything that links Calvin to Greg!" she finally snapped at him. With desperation growing and expanding in his voice, it was starting to break her spirit within her. She desperately want this warrant too, but she knew what the careless response of a judge would be once he was presented with this evidence, or lack there of evidence. With everything that Nick had been saying, it was all completely guided by desperation. At this point, he didn't even seem to be logically thinking, he was just shooting out retorts and last stitch reasons that didn't make sense. They were all his desperate attempts to organize some means of an explanation for evidence that he would present to a judge. But every piece of evidence was inconclusive and unreliable; pointless in the eyes of a judge issuing a warrant. But in all truth, the evidence didn't even exist.

But with Catherine's harsh retort to him, Nick finally broke under his own pressure. "Why do you have to keep shooting down every god damn reason I have! I don't see you trying to get us this damn warrant!"

"Nick, I'm not shooting down your ideas! I'm putting my self in the position of a judge. What would he be looking at and would he see what we are seeing?" she reasonably explained.

Nick wasn't having it though. There was only one right answer in his mind, proof or not, Nick knew it was the truth. "Catherine, Richards framed the Donnar's! I know it!"

"Okay, well what do you have to prove that?" she snapped back at him yet again.

The same question that he didn't have the right answer for was asked yet again. Overwhelmed with the truth gaining up on his guilt, Nick was finally beginning to crumble under the pressure. Slumping down in one of her office chairs, he dropped his head into his hands, and sat in the eerie silence that filled the room.

The quite that had filled the room finally had given Nick his chance to calm down. With everything beginning to unveil its self and the desperate need for the evidence to support those facts, it was all just taking its toll on his sanity. He knew that they didn't have any physical evidence to prove that Calvin was the kidnapper, but still, with his determination fighting for this warrant, he still continued to make means of unsupportive thoughts and inconclusive evidence.

"You know, we actually do have the evidence. The only thing we have Caleb for is stealing the van, and that can not just be coincidental, and it's not coincidental. Whatever was done with that van after it was stolen, its all on Calvin, based off Caleb's confession. None of the evidence is coming back to Caleb."

"But none of the evidence is coming back to Calvin either. We have no evidence against either or these guys. Whoever kidnapped Greg, at the beginning of this it was made very clear that he's meticulous. Because of that, we have two suspects now and we have nothing pointing to either of them."

"Catherine stop making Calvin sound like he's innocent when you know he isn't! Calvin is meticulous and he knows what the hell he is doing! He was the one who called in the Donnar's saying that he heard screaming coming from their house. The real suspect placing a target on two innocent men, well as I said before, we're going to interrogate the men who we initially believed where the suspects. And that is what we did! He has perfectly organized everything and because of that, we believed the bull shit that came out of that bastard's mouth! The Donnar's don't fit that persona! Interrogating Caleb, he broke way too easily under the pressure and I completely believe that he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about."

"But everything that Calvin said, it was just a confession Nick. As much as I want it to be, it's not entirely credible. How many times have we brought in a witness and he ended up being a suspect! Hell, what about Calvin!"

"You admit it!" Nick quickly exclaimed back at her. "You just admitted it; you know that bastard is hiding something! You know he did something! You know that he took Greg!"

Once he said this to her, Catherine was instantly taken back once again. "We are just basing our accusation off past experience and a person's behavior, whether it is credible or false. I still don't think its enough to get a warrant Nick."

"God dammit Catherine; will you stop turning down my damn ideas! You're denying what's right in front of you! You know that Calvin took Greg, so stop trying to defend that! Do you have a better suggestion on how to get this damn warrant! Hell we should already have a leg up on this due to the fact that it's a CSI that is missing!"

"I'm not turning down your ideas Nick, and I sure as hell am not defending Calvin! I want this warrant just as badly, but I am not going to a judge with evidence and accusations that we can't back up. If Greg was, or is, in that house, then we have already wasted enough time following this bull shit lead that I am not going to go to a judge, wasting our time, all to embarrass myself by falling to my knees, begging for this warrant, all to waste more time and be denied the warrant."

As Nick had brought her to silence a time or two before, she had finally returned the same tone and justification to bring him to silence. But seeing a diminutive spirit fill his blank eyes, Catherine knew that it was time to bring stop beating a dead horse, time and time again pointing out their missing evidence. And Nick was right, putting her self in the position of what a judge would see if anything was only breaking down their high hopes faster. Other then that, she hadn't really made a contribution to trying to solve this problem.

"So if we do get this warrant, what would we ask the warrant to be for, and what evidence would we have to back that up."

By this point, he wanted that damn word obliterated from his mind, his vocabulary, from the damn dictionary. Catherine's words had finally got to him and finally brought his sense to a grim reality of hopelessness. "We don't have evidence, remember?" he retorted with a snide tone and a smug expression.

"Nick," was all she simply said though to his bitter remark.

Looking at Catherine though, Nick knew that she was being serious; not defensive. She genuinely wanted an answer. "Well we could ask to bring him in for questioning; we have a better chance at getting a warrant for that," he calmly suggested with some reasonable sense of logic that he figured would appeal to her.

And his suggestion had caught her ear. It did make a substantial amount of sense. "Then if Greg is in that house, we could at least get Calvin away from him at least until he makes a confession or we obtain evidence to convict him."

Catherine's thoughts were for once up lifting, which is why Nick already felt like a hypocrite with what he was about to say, delivering the compromising and unfortunate news. "But remember what Greg said, there are two kidnappers."

Catherine did seem to catch onto how Nick had interpreted what he had said. "But there was only one guy at the house," she said, bringing about some optimism to his dreary thoughts.

Rolls were once again reversed between the two of them, for with Catherine's high hopes, Nick was about to bring down the reality once again. "You remember how I told you that one of the kidnappers seemed to be really tall?" he asked as he waited for her response; the nod of her head affirmed her remembrance. "Well I was just considering this; I'll bet you that the tall guy, he was with Greg in the house, to make sure that he stayed quiet or something."

It seemed to Catherine that Nick was finally back on track with his logical thinking, but with what he said here, it just seemed far too extraneous to even consider. "Do you really think that Calvin would bring us into his house while Greg was in the house as well, and of all things, if he was conscience too? Nick, if I were in a position like that, I would do anything, everything, to get someone's attention. And plus, that would be such a risk on Calvin's part; it just wouldn't make any sense for him to do that," she suggested in a very questionable tone.

"Well maybe that was what Calvin wanted to do. Have it be like this sick, taunting reality to us that we were in the same house that Greg was in and had no idea."

"But having Greg conscience and fully aware; that just doesn't make any sense. I mean if I were Greg, in that exact position, not even a guy with a gun would hold me back."

"You say that now, but if you were actually in that position Catherine."

"Nick, I don't care how meticulous Calvin is, I can see him bringing us into his home just to be in his home, but with Greg in the house too, it just sounds too, ludicrous, absurd, to even consider that possibility."

Hearing her say this, it was evident that Catherine's mind was in a stubborn place and there was no getting around it. The silence in the room grew between them again, both stuck in the thoughts of their separate conclusions of everything that they had discussed.

Nick was as well stuck in his stubborn position, convinced that everything that he was saying was right, but if he had something that could prove that, then he could get that warrant. Considering everything he saw, thought, the strange feeling that he had in the pit of his stomach; what was the thing to guide all of his vibes. He then remembered the door in the hallway, and how he had stopped at it; what was that noise that he had heard, that familiar sound, what was in that storage room?

Thinking about that door this time and now adding the variable of Greg into his thought process, it was like a light bulb went off in his mind, the puzzle pieces fit; he knew what that sound was.

"Catherine?"

The silence interrupted, she knew that no matter what Nick was going to say, the only thing that it could benefit was humoring her seeming that by this point as she was hardly expecting anything to come out of him mouth that was going to be reasonable. "Yeah?" she blandly asked.

"Remember when I stopped at the door?"

With a heavy sigh, she replied, "Yes, I remember."

"I told you in the car that I thought I had heard something, and I think I just realized what it was. I told you that it was familiar, like music. Catherine, I think it was Greg's ringtone. It was the chorus of that damn song _Feel Like Making Love_."

"Nick, are you sure? That seems kinda like a long shot idea," she asked with a skeptical look across her face, but she didn't entirely consider this possibility unreasonable.

"The music came from that room, and it had stopped, so that means that someone answered it or someone turned it off. If they didn't, it would have continued to ring and the song would have continued to play. If Greg had the phone, why would he discontinue the ringing unless it was answer the phone? Hell, if he had his phone on him, you would think that he would have the common sense of desperation to call us, let alone just someone!"

"Greg isn't the only person in the world with that ringtone Nick," she suggested.

"Very true, but that can't just be a complete coincidence," he replied, knowing that what he was saying just had to be justifiable.

Silence filled the small office yet again, and as Nick looked at Catherine, there was a questionable look across her face. He was just hoping that everything he had said was finally enough to convince her that they could take what they had to a judge. But he then realized something.

"Catherine," Nick said, getting her attention again. "Listen, what we do have right now, even thought they are just assumptions, this is all that we have to give a judge. If everything gets turned down and we can't get a warrant, well for one, at least we tried. But do you really think that is going to stop either of us? We both know that Greg is in that house, and right now, I would rather go there without a warrant then to sit around and wait for one, whether we get it or not. Your right, if this is a bull shit lead, then we've already wasted a shit load of time. I don't want to waste anymore time, and I sure as hell don't want to arrive at that house all to discover that we were too late."

* * *

Lauryn Miller was a neighbor in the cul-de-sac of Calvin Richards and Caleb and Markus Donnar. She lived in house 1616, a house perfectly placed in between Calvin's house and the Donnar's. Due to this convenience, being placed smack-dab between the two houses, she was an innocent onlooker to the unfolding events that had taken place over the past few hours.

With all the disturbances that had take place throughout the morning finally settled though, she had taken her opportunity to sit down in her living room and enjoy the quiet afternoon reading her book. Her living room was always the best room to read in, for it had a wide open window and during the early afternoon, the Nevada sun would always provide the most sensational amount of light into the small room which made this room a divine place to escape into the world of her engaged imagination. With her book in hand, Lauryn took a seat on her couch, propping her legs up, and sitting the book upon her knees, she began to read.

Though her concentration was firmly focused on her book, she couldn't help but notice from the corner of her eye a large, ominous figure making its way across the cul-de-sac. Being the center house in the cul-de-sac with the large, open window, it revealed the neighborhood in its whole, giving her a full view of what ever took place beyond the walls of her home.

Looking at the dark figure for the brief second, she had to do a double take. Analyzing what had caught her eye, she had finally established that it was just a large man, but she had never scene him before. Curious as to where he was heading, with what looked to be a package in his hands, she followed him with her eyes. She was then puzzled. The package the man was holding had been placed at the steps of the Donnar's residence and then he man immediately began to walk away and back in the direction he originally came from. The large man had then approached Calvin Richards' house, and without hesitation, walked into the home and shut the door behind him.

After seeing this, Lauryn had become very puzzled and confused. This mystery man that she had never scene before dropping a package off at the Donnar's house and then entering Calvin's house, this was a gesture that just seemed very strange. Calvin's car was still in his drive way, so he was still at him home. The fact that someone was dropping a package at the Donnar's house that seemed to originate from Calvin's home, it just didn't make any sense. Calvin saw the Donnar's get arrested this morning, so why would he leave a package for an empty home?

Regardless of the now absent man that had entered Calvin's home, Lauryn proceeded to focus her attention on her neighbor's home.

* * *

As Mark made him way back into the house, he was greeted with the view of Calvin dragging their broken captive across the floor toward the front door. Looking at the limp figure that was weakly trailing behind Calvin, it was an inarguable statement that he had officially been broken. It had been well around an hour since the emotional torment of Calvin's sadist actions had been inflicted upon Greg, but the emotional scars that he was already suffering through where vividly shown through his battered spirit; his crying had still yet to discontinue. Even when Calvin dropped his body to the hard floor, his numb limbs just allowed the crude action to take place. As his body hit the floor, painfully landing on his side and hip, his body still remained unmoved. Greg felt nothing.

As Calvin dropped Greg to the ground, he had removed his gun from his waist band and had loosely aimed it at him. He knew that Greg was to emotionally broken to have the will to fight against him any more, but still, it was just as a precaution, and he also liked the power that he possessed while holding the weapon. Turning his attention to Mark, he then asked, "Did you drop off the package?"

"Yeah, I put it at the bottom of the porch steps. You sure they'll find it?" questioned Mark.

"If they are smart enough, they'll find it," Calvin said with confidence and a smug grin.

Mark only acknowledged him with a single nod of the head. "Well the car is ready so we can go now. But do you think it's really the best idea to openly lead him to the car like this? I mean, someone could see and they'll probably call the cops."

"And do you really think that is going to make a difference? It doesn't matter if anybody sees him or not. We're leaving, so even if they did call the cops, it'll be too late. We'll be long gone," he said with a disgusting laugh. Looking down at his captive, Calvin effortlessly kicked Greg in the back of his leg. This wasn't a gesture that was going to hurt him, for once, but one of his many crude actions where its purpose was to see the reaction that he would get out of Greg. The anticipation didn't disappoint.

Unexpectedly feeling the small force on the back of his leg, as an automatic response, his body flinched. It was disturbing to Greg's conscience though how strong the flinch was though, as it had shook his whole body. Once this subtle torment happened, it had unfortunately dawned on Greg that no matter what happened to him anymore, nothing would come in a subtle form. Even the gentle touch of soft hands, he knew he wouldn't have the strength to hold back his fear any longer; he could only reduce himself to being a frail and timid victim. As a pathetic mean of some form of comfort, Greg brought his legs up to his chest, and laid there.

It was a subtle meaning behind a body wracking movement, and it truly placed in perspective how insignificant Greg felt under his control. A small shrug of his shoe against his leg and he reacted to it as if he had been shot. Then seeing him curl into a fetal position, all of it was simply superb to watch. Leaving his side though, Calvin walked over to the front door and looked out the window. With seeing the stillness of the neighborhood, he responded, "Yeah let's leave now." Calvin then reached his hand into his pocket and took out a long, thick black cloth and handed it to Mark. "Here, put this on him. He doesn't need to see where we're going."

Taking the cloth from Calvin's hand, he walked over to Greg and knelt down next to him. Doing as he was instructed, Mark wrapped the cloth twice around Greg's eyes, pulling tight as he secured the knots. "Well being blindfolded, he probably won't fight back either," Mark absently added.

"What do you mean?" Calvin asked, confused by what Mark had seemed to just randomly say.

"It's just that being blindfolded; you're screwed without your eye sight. It would just be pointless for him to try to fight back," Mark reasoned as he stood up and walked toward the now open front door.

With what Mark had said, it could only make Calvin smile. His simple mind that was completely dismissing Greg's emotionally unstable state, he could only focus on the weak force of his sensory restraint. As he walked his victim, his hollow footsteps echoing against the creaky floor boards announcing his approach as his black eyes scrutinizing Greg's every fiber as he reminisced of the events that took place not even an hour ago, he grimly hissed with a distorted glee in his voice, "Oh Mark, I don't think Greg will be fighting back much anymore," he suggested with a cocked head.

Calvin then knelt down next to Greg again, and with two fingers, he slowly began to slither them down the side of his torso, gliding his course tips down its length. It was a normally ticklish region of any person's body, but it had translated into a painful quiver that made his skin drip with hot sweat. Continuing with his reasoning before, with his fingers now returning to the bone structure of Greg's pelvis and tracing the now bruised and scraped skin, he hissed with a lingering voice, "I don't think he has the… _dignity_… to do that."

Knowing instantly what Cal was referencing too and the disgusting feel of his hands touching him, Greg viciously thrashed his body and pathetically tried to squirm out of his captor's reach. Though hearing the boastful and mocking sound of laughter coming from the bellowing vocal cords of two men, Greg realized that his fear was only offering entertainment to these two monsters and that no matter what, he could never escape them. Regardless of the tightly bound cloth that was gripping his eyes shut, tears still filled his ducts.

Getting yet another fix of entertainment from Greg's terror, it allowed Calvin to bask in his deformed sense of accomplishment as he watched the actions of his mess of a victim. Allowing the feeling to pass though, Calvin once again approached Greg and effortlessly picked up his limp figure and once he was in a standing position, he roughly shoved him through the door way, and as expected, he fell crumbling to the floor.

* * *

Lauryn was still attentively watching the unmoved house; she was merely waiting for something to happen. When the front door finally began to inch open though, her attention was fully focused on who was about to leave the home.

The mystery man was the first to leave the house, but what followed, it confused Lauryn more then that mystery man walking across the cul-de-sac to drop off a package. A strange figure was sent lunging forward toward the large unknown man and it had immediately fallen to the floor as if it was dead weight bringing it down. Then finally, the first thing that she recognized, Calvin left his home. He had approached the limp figure and then proceeded to assist the large man in lifting up the unknown figure. They finally began to drag it down the porch stairs, and then sun light hit this limp mystery object. It had taken Lauryn a second to process in her mind what she was looking at, though when it finally clicked in her mind, what she was looking it had sent her into a full-fledged fearful panic.

As a terror-stricken reaction, she immediately dropped her body to the ground so that she couldn't be scene behind her window sill; she didn't want her neighbor to see that she was basically spying on them, and she did want the same thing to happen to her as what was supposedly happening to that man that was being dragged from that house. Although fear was evident within her, curiosity and concern over-passed it. She slowly began to raise her head above the window sill so that her eyes could continue to watch what was happening to this poor man.

The captive was being dragged over toward Calvin's car; a black Crown Victorian. They were walking toward the back of the car though and as they approached it, she then saw Calvin carelessly drop the frail looking man to the hot gravel ground. He had approached the trunk of the car and then the hood popped up. Lauryn could only assume the worse for this man at this moment, and as she saw the tall man carelessly and effortlessly toss the weak captive over his shoulder and walk up to the open trunk, it was evident that her assumption had proved to be correct.

* * *

At the back of the car, Mark carelessly dropped Greg into the large trunk. Due to his tall stature, the falling distance between Mark's shoulder and the floor of the trunk was rather large, so as his weak figure landed awkwardly in the trunk, a pained groan and a weak whimper reverberated along his lips.

With his sight now gone and now stuck in a box-like space, Greg began to panic. The only thing that he knew was that he was outside for he could feel the hot sun beating against his aching body. Oh how he loved the warm comfort of the sun; he just hoped that he would be able to see it again. Though as his body had been slung over what he thought was a shoulder and then dumped into the confined space, the sun had seemed to disappear. His numb hands still bound behind his back and now wearing a blindfold in this unknown confined space, he was just helplessly trapped in this predicament that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to get out of. It was an understatement to say that he was scared out of his god damn mind.

There was then a presence that was dangerously close to him. Greg didn't know who or why this presence was so close to him, but as past experience with these two sadistic bastards who had formed a cruel hobby in teasing him, he considered if it was either Mark or Cal closely scrutinizing him or attempting to further mess with the remaining shrivel of his sanity. As a side effect to the blindfold though, the loss of sight affected his will to act out in any way. With a blank face, he just continued to stare straight into the dark oblivion that filtered his eye sight. The presence then pulled away; he could tell because the air just felt less crowded and the close breathing had distanced its self.

Two hands had then unexpectedly clasped their tight grips around his ankles and viciously jerked his body toward which had caused his head to hit the floor. The dull throb in his head had briefly returned, but it had quickly disappeared once he heard the audible rip of what Greg knew to be duct tape. _Oh fuck. Please god dammit, not more tape _he miserably thought.

"I told you there was more tape in the trunk," he heard the voice he had familiarized himself with as Mark say. The sticky material had then been placed upon his pant legs again and it quickly bound his ankles together. But it didn't stop there. As more tape had been ripped from its roll, Greg could then feel it being bound above his knees, completely restricting any movement of his legs. His legs were then shoved back into the trunk and they were forced to bend to a very uncomfortable direction, into a position that didn't even seem possible for someone whose legs were bound the way that his were.

"Hey Calvin, I think we're ready here," Mark announced.

Approaching the back of the car again, he instantly began to scrutinize his helpless victim like he had many times before. With his always smug smile and snide voice, he said, "Yeah, he looks good. Let's go."

Everything confirming its self on its own, Greg now knew that he was in the trunk of a car that was getting ready to leave. But where were they going? Where were they taking him? These were questions that terrified Greg. He knew it was utterly futile, but the means of desperation had automatically guided one final, simple plea. "Please. Just please. Let me go," he weakly begged with a pathetic, broken voice.

The response though, it didn't surprise Greg in the least. It only filled him with the same doomed spirit that he was almost becoming accustomed to. There smug laughter of mockery, it always chilled his bones. Words finally presented them selves though, but with his response, Greg had preferred the laughter. "Mark, could you please put a piece of tape on his young mans pretty lips?" he heard the man that was apparently known as Calvin ask. And Mark's response was the vicious sound of ripping tape and then he felt the sticky adhesive placed upon his lips once again.

With one final look at their bound captive, Calvin then placed his hands of the hot hood of the trunk as if getting ready to shut it, but before he locked Greg in the confined space, Calvin asked, "You comfortable?"

The cruel question, taunting hid conscience with a fact that they both already knew, it made tears flow through his ducts once again. Though was as disturbing to Greg was that he had answered these two monsters. As an automatic response, now knowing not to ignore either of his captors, Greg honestly answered them. Letting out an agonizing sob, he shook his head and attempted to muffle under his sealed lips, "No."

Only one word was said after that, and that word was, "Good." There was then a fast wind of air that came at him and then with a heavy slam, everything was silent. They had finally shut the trunk, locking him away in his new hourglass prison.

* * *

As she saw the trunk slam shut, her heart had broken in extreme sorrow for this poor man. She desperately wanted to go out and help him, but she knew that there was nothing that she could do to save him without getting herself into danger as well. Overwhelmed with seeing all of this, torn by her desperate need to help this man, and the undeniably distraught for the fact that she couldn't, she started to cry. It was a disturbing shock to see her neighbor that she had known rather well doing this to a person. It was bluntly evident to her that what he had potentially done to this man, this wasn't a sick game or anything of innocent fun. The man, though alive, seemed completely broken.

Though she couldn't personally do anything to prevent this hostage captive from being taken away into oblivion, she figured that the best thing to do would be to call the cops. She knew that if would be too late by the time that the cops got here, but holding how for the victim locked in the trunk, she thought that maybe the cops could track down the car or something. She cautiously left her window – so not to possibly catch Calvin's eyes with the, although subtle, sudden movement – and made her way over to her coffee table and grabbed her phone.

With the phone in hand, she made her way back to the window, but as she was getting ready to call the police, she then saw Calvin running back into his house, As he returned into view from the depth of his home, he stopped at his front door. She couldn't see what he was doing, but as he walked away from his home and back over to the car, Lauryn could see that something was attached to the front door that had been, as she assumed, intentionally left open.

Lauryn finally called the cops once she saw the car backing out of the drive way. Though as the back end of the car went in her direction, she then remembered that she needed to catch the plate of the car. But by the time it registered in her mind that she needed to get down his license plate, the car began to drive away. As soon as this happened, she immediately regretted not ever looking at his cars plate, but then again, she never needed a reason to, until now. Even though she never knew the man locked away in the trunk, as the car got further and further away, casually approaching the exit of the neighborhood, she felt like she had failed him.

As the car turned the corner and disappeared into the desert, her attention finally returned to the phone in her hands. She dialed 911 and waited for someone to pick up.

"911 what is your emergency," one of the LVPD officers asked on the other line.

"Hi, my name is Lauryn Miller and I don't know what happened to this guy but I just saw my neighbor put a guy who was tied up in the trunk of his car and he just left and you guys have to help him because he looked pretty messed up and I don't think he going to be okay so you guys have to help him!" she continuously blurted out all at once.

Her panic was blatantly evident in voice, and like many other phones calls he had received in the past, the Officer listening to her rambling confession was easily confused by her jumbled words. "Ma 'am, I need you to calm down alright. Are you in danger right now?" he asked just to make sure that the distressed sounding woman on the other line wasn't under the pressure of time being off the essence.

Once she heard his pointless question, she snapped back at the Office. "No I'm not in danger! Didn't you hear me just now god dammit! My neighbor just shoved a guy in the trunk of his car and drove off! That guy needs help!"

"What type car does your neighbors drive ma 'am? And by any chance do you know his plates? Well see if we can track down the car," the Officer stated once hearing a stern composure present its self in her voice.

"It's a black Crown Victorian," she replied.

"And do you know the plates?"

There was silence for a moment as she was silently cursing her self for not getting a look at Calvin's plates fast enough. "I don't unfortunately."

"Alright, well we'll get an APB put out, but in the mean time well get a CSI sent down there and check out your neighbors house, see if we can find something that we'll be able to charge him with. What's your address?"

"I live at 1616 94th Dr. SE," she answered back.

It was an understatement to say that news traveled fast throughout the crime lab at the LVPD, and news traveled just as fast around the police department, including hearing several tidbits throughout the day related to one of Catherine's team member getting kidnapped. Having recognized her address, he knew that it would probably be best to connect her with Brass.

"Ma 'am I'm going to transfer your call over to Detective Brass alright. Your information could be very valuable to one of their current investigations that they are investigating."

Hearing this, Lauryn wasn't too thrilled to hear that she was going to be transferred over to another line seeming that when lines are transferred it means that she will probably end up getting put on hold. As she figured that the LVPD just automatically knew this, time is of the essence, and getting put on hold wasn't going to help rescue this now missing man any further. But there wasn't exactly another option here. She figured that as long as she could help that poor guy. "Alright, thank you," she blandly accepted, and then sat in silence as she waited to be transferred over to the line of Detective Brass.

* * *

Everything that Nick had said, knowing the two of them, there was nothing that would stop them from going back to that house, warrant or not. With this new found hold on optimism, knowing that they would go back to Calvin's house no matter what, she had made a new, uplifting suggestion. "You know, thinking about it, it would be better for us to get a warrant, and I am sure that Brass could talk to a judge and get us one."

Knowing that Brass was rather well connected with judges throughout Vegas, it seemed like a solid plausible suggestion. "That's a good idea, and yeah, he could probably get us one. But even if he doesn't Catherine, I mean it, I don't care how we get to that house, I just want to get there before it's too late."

The two of them finally left Catherine's office and began to make their way toward Brass's office, but as they began to approach his office, a stirring and disturbing thought began to filter Nick's mind. "Hey Catherine, you don't think that Calvin would leave his house do you? I mean, we know where he lives, obviously, and if he's guilty, then he knows it, so wouldn't he be worried if we would come back to the house?"

This was something that Catherine had yet to consider, and it had instantly put into perspective how crucial their time was right now. Choosing not to currently dwell on this possible misfortune, she dismissed this thinking. "Nick, I would rather not think about that right now."

* * *

"Detective Jim Brass," he answered once the call had been connected with his phone.

"Hi, my name is Lauryn Miller and I just got transferred over to you because the Officer I was talking to you said that what information I have could possibly be helpful in on of your current investigations," she immediately informed.

Seeming that whatever this woman knew or saw could be of potential use in an investigation, Brass was instantly intrigued with what she had to say. "Well Ms. Miller, you have my full attention. So what do you have that is useful for us to know?"

"Well, I think my neighbor kidnapped someone. I saw him and this other guy leading this one beat up looking guy to his car, and then he put him in the trunk and then they left."

Just the word kidnapped and Brass had immediately considered of this could be something to do with Greg. Wanting more information, with a very firm seriousness, he began to question the witness. "When did this happen?"

"About 5 minutes ago."

"Alright and what is your address?"

"I live at 1616 94th Dr. SE."

This couldn't have been a coincidence. He and a group of Officers were just in that neighborhood this morning, and as far as he was aware, they already had the suspects in custody. "Ms. Miller, the person you saw being kidnapped, was he taken from house 1619, the residence of Caleb and Markus Donnar?" Brass asked, both high hopes and confusion filtering his mind.

"No! He wasn't taken from the Donnar's!" she all of a sudden viciously snapped. "The Donnar's aren't even at home! You arrested them this morning!" she then reminded them with a mocking tone.

"Yes we know we arrested them this morning ma 'am, but they are currently suspects in a kidnapping investigation. So, if this guy who was kidnapped wasn't taken from the Donnar's home, then whose house was he taken from?"

"From house 1614, where Calvin Richard's lives," she informed.

Hearing the familiar name of their witness from earlier, Brass was instantly very concerned. "Ms. Miller, are you sure that it was Calvin's house? Listen, can you describe the person that you saw, the one who was put in the trunk?"

"Well for starters, yes, the guy was for sure taken from Calvin's house. I know what I saw. As far as what the guy looked like, it was hard to tell, but he seemed to have light colored hair and he seemed thin. I can't really pick a height because they were dragging him. He wasn't wearing a shirt either and there was some red on him too, so yeah, I don't know if that's like blood or not. And that's all I've really got."

While Lauryn was giving her brief description of what she had scene, Brass had then noticed Nick and Catherine in the hallway. It seemed that from what Lauryn was saying that Calvin Richard's could potentially be a new suspect, but as he was getting ready to try and get their attention for them to come into his office, he had then dawned on him that they were already heading toward his office. As soon as Lauryn had finished her description of the victim currently trapped in Calvin Richard's car, Nick and Catherine had barged into his office.

"Brass we need a warrant to interrogate Calvin Richards! We think that he actually kidnapped Greg and we need a warrant now Brass!" Nick practically ordered to the now stunned looking detective.

"Wait… what?" she practically shouted, shocked as to what he was hearing between Lauryn Miller and Nick and Catherine.

"We think that Calvin kidnapped Greg and framed the Donnar's and listen, we need a warrant like right now because Richards could leave his house and then who knows when we'll find him and we just really need a warrant Brass," Nick and explained and admitted, his voice now begging.

"Ms. Miller, could you please excuse me for a second," he apologized to the girl on the phone. Turning his attention back to Nick and Catherine, he then asked, "You really think that Greg was in Richards' house? But didn't you go inside of the house and talk to him?"

"Yes we did, and we have been talking and we think he was lying the whole time. Listen, if Greg is in that house, then we might not have much time to get back to the house to find out. Richards could be leaving right now with Greg for all we know," shouted Nick, desperation now growing as he heard his voice spout out the possible reality of the situation. But as he was about to find out, it was the reality.

With all that Nick had said, Brass felt as if he was in an unbelievable and incredible awkward position at this moment, especially with now having to inform the two jumbled CSI's. "Nick, I have a woman on the other line that is telling me that she saw Calvin Richards and a second man put someone into the trunk of his car and then drive away. I asked her if she could give a description of the person who was put in the trunk, and from what it sounds like, the description seems to match Greg."

It was taking every fiber of Nick's being not to full blown unleash at this moment. Attempting to hold back his forming tears of rage, he asked with a dull voice and a clenched jaw, "So Calvin did kidnap Greg?"

"I'll get you guys that warrant and we'll get a team sent down there and we'll search Calvin's home. We'll get an APB put out on his car too and see if we can track it down," Brass insured the two emotionally disturbed CSI's standing before him. Returning to his phone call, he then addressed the very helpful witness. "Ms. Miller, we are going to be coming down there right now and when we get there, we're going to ask you a couple questions regarding what you saw."

"Yes of course," she politely insured Detective Brass. "I just want to help."

* * *

Alrighty… so, tell me tell me… what did you guys think :D?

And off to my thanks to my readers…

For alerting my story, thank you to CMAli 1.

And for my totally awesome reviewers, thanks goes to Jennypen, crimescenelover, VisionX23, Me, JodsRaine, GreggoAddict, almostkaity, puns (The Walking Chill Pill/WMG :D) and Catindahat. Thank you so much for all your kind words of hate ha ha :D! I KNOW, CALVIN IS JUST TERRIBLE!

Also… I am sorry to ask this… but who is Me? Do I personally know Me? I am just curious, so yeah, who every wrote the review for Me, like you should let me know who you are Me :o! It would be nice to know :D!

So there you have it, Chapter 13 and thanks to everyone who read it, and 14 will be here in due time :D!


	14. Sick Discoveries

Well for starters, I can't thank all of my reviewers enough for helping me to achieve 100 reviews, for my first fanfiction ever :D! Like seriously guys, that was just frickin awesome to see and thanks a gabagillion times for all the reviews. :D!

And how do I repay you guys for doing that for me?

BY MAKING YOU WAIT MORE THEN A MONTH FOR AN UPDATE! God, I am so so so so so so so so sorry everyone… I never wanted to exceed more then a month without a post, but when school work piles up on you… well, unfortunately that has to come first… But FINALLY, I found the time to write and I took advantage of this opportunity and I made sure that I got chapter 14 finished up :D!

Anyway… enough of my blabbering… you guys would probably much rather read chapter 14, a chapter you have been deprived of for far too long… so I will end my senseless blabber and of course enjoy chapter 14 :D!

* * *

**Chapter 14****: Sick Discoveries**

With Brass and a full police squad following behind them with their blaring sirens, the drive through the desert returning to the house of Calvin Richards was as grueling for Nick and Catherine as what could have been expected. The rode seemed never ending which was toying with both of their minds in a cruel way, making it seem that even though they were driving as fast as they could, they weren't going anywhere. But the deserted highway finally took them to their returning destination.

As Nick turned his car into the neighborhood and pulled up into the familiar cul-de-sac that they had visited no more then a few hours ago, it was an understatement to say that the vibe that they received was different; it was drastically disturbing. What was the neighborhood that had filled them with such hope before, it had turned into one filled with vile lies and deception. The lies may have only come from one direct man, but he had tainted the whole neighborhood with painful memories and false hopes.

As the police cars filed into the cul-de-sac, parking their cars in front of Calvin's house, without an order to take action, Brass and the rest of the police squad emerged from their cars and immediately began to disperse, surrounding Calvin's house. Brass and few officers on the other hand, were the ones to approach the front door and needless of a reason to request Calvin's presence, they began to search the house.

Once Nick had parked his car in front of the home of the woman who was supposedly their new witness, both he and Catherine tried to catch up with Brass, but with him and his team's immediate action, they could only wait till they were done clearing the house. Till that moment presented its self, the two of them got out of the SUV and with their field kits in hand, approached Calvin's house and stood outside, waiting. A minute or two passed before they finally saw Brass emerge from the depths of the prison, and seeing him give them a signal to come forth, Nick and Catherine practically started running up to him.

"Did you guy's find anything?" Catherine asked, panic in her voice.

"There isn't anyone in the house, but someone was definitely in this house; specifically, the basement," Brass informed with dismay.

"Anything else?" Catherine asked one again.

Brass silently nodded his head. "It's just a regular house."

"What's that on the door?" Nick then absently asked, pointing to the object that seemed attached to the door.

Nick's question spiked everyone's curiosity. Brass and Catherine both turned their attention to the door and saw what Nick was pointing at. Without need of a request, Catherine took a step forward and thoroughly observed the item. It was a standard envelope, one that you would use to mail a letter or to send a message, and on its first impression, it did just that. It was substantially covered in crimson red blotches which she rightfully assumed was blood, and drawing this conclusion, it worried her.

From the corner of her eye, she could see a hand stretched out at her and as she looked at it, Nick was offering her a pair of latex gloves. A simple, silent glace of gratitude toward Nick, she took the gloves from his hand and put them on. Returning her attention back to the envelope, she then began to gently remove the taped evidence from the door.

Catherine turned the envelope over so that she could open it and see what lied within the bloody threads, but instead found words. It was a message, handwritten, on the back of the envelope. Catherine noticed how all the letters were written in caps, in a bold black pen. She pondered if the capitalized letters signified a boldly written statement or if this was just the hands standard everyday handwriting. This curiosity was due to the fact that she recognized the penmanship from earlier written notes. Regardless of who wrote the note though, the message that it held, she knew that it would be far more disturbing then any of the other notes, the means of capitalized letters completely irrelevant.

"What is it?" Nick calmly asked, intrigued by her focus guided silence.

Catherine was silent for a second, questioning whether or not to fill her soul with despair by reading the message. The letters were jumbled and scattered as she looked at them, unable to form a single word as she stared at them, but at the same time, they were laughing at her, mocking her emotions. The sharp and acute formation of the perfectly precise capitalized letters felt like they were stabbing at her brain, merely picking at it for fun. She didn't know how she would be able to mutter a single syllable of what she was about to read, but regardless, she took a deep breath and began to read aloud.

"I decided to do something awfully nice for you two," she first read aloud, but was taken back by the realization that this message was personally met for her and Nick, and even without the address written in black and white, they both knew it.

With her momentary pause breaking her rhythm, Catherine decided to start from the beginning again. "I decided to do something awfully nice for you two so that you don't have to waste any more of yours, or his, precious time by saving you the hassle of having to travel all the way back to the lab just to see if your dear friend was in my house. Instead, I put the results in this envelope."

"That methodical son of a bitch! He's just fucking with us!" Nick exclaimed as he simply heard the words of mockery, but his mind has yet to comprehend their meaning.

The anger in his voice didn't surprise Catherine in the least, but she ignored him, for her focus was fully directly toward the envelope. Understanding what she had just read aloud, she knew there was a substance that was held in the thin threads of the crimson colored envelope. Gently taking a firm hold on the paper package, she deftly lifted up the unsealed flap that was tucked away inside of the envelope and finally peered inside of it.

First glimpse, she wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at. The paper threads had soaked up a descent amount of blood but the dried out remains of it covered the flimsy material; pondering the observation made by the naked eye. But after further observing it, she noticed that the object had a peach color to it that could be seen through the crusted blood. Tilting the envelope to the side a bit though, to view the substance at a different angle, she then realized what she was looking at. The attentive calm in her eyes was replaced with a notable horror, her jaw began to subtly drop, and her hands were shaky.

"Catherine; what is it?" Nick asked seeing the exclaimed silence in her reactions.

Focus solely placed on her efforts to hold back her emotions, it wasn't in her interest to even try to form a single syllable all to respond to Nick when the answer was blatantly held in the envelope. Catherine simply reached out her unstable hand that held the disturbing realization and offered it to Nick. Once he took it from her, she then quickly snatched back her hand and wiped away a tear that was threatening to fall past her ducts.

Nick could see the troubled knots contorting in Catherine's stomach even though she was trying her best to hold her composure. He hated that he was intrigued by the distraught thing that was packaged inside of this measly envelope, but he wanted to know the answer to his question that Catherine was too tongue-tied to respond to. Nick then opened the envelope as well to see what was placed inside. The blood its self, Nick had a gut feeling that it belonged to Greg, but with what was beneath the crimson coloring, he was praying to god that this didn't. Tilting the envelope upside down, he allowed the flimsy flesh to fall into his hand.

"You don't think that its Greg's, do you?" Catherine asked, her voice practically pleading for the answer to be no.

When Catherine said this, Nick then remembered the note. _Saving you the hassle of having to travel all the way back to the lab just to see if your dear friend was in my house. Instead, I put the results in this envelope. _Finally comprehending its message, he realized that that the skin could be identified. As he studied the flesh, he finally saw what it really was.

"Catherine, can you hold the fingerprint scanner please," he asked, but his eyes didn't dare make contact with her for he knew he would hate to see the grim stricken dismay in her sorrow eyes.

As anticipated, her eyes were drowned by the disturbance of just the question. "Nick… it can't be that," she begged with a doubtful reasoning.

"Saving us the hassle to have to return to the lab just to identify that Greg was in the house. The results lie within the curves of the fingerprint. It's an instant identification." Nick said this with his voice absent of emotion.

Catherine was desperately trying to disbelieve Nick's justification, but she hated to admit that his thinking was reasonable. Doing as she was asked, Catherine held out the fingerprint scanner for Nick as he deftly placed the fragile flesh upon it. It didn't take more then a few seconds before three beeps sounded off, confirming that an identification had been made.

Knowing that the device held the results of the most likely disturbing conformation, Nick and Catherine both remained still, their eyes exploring anything insight, anything but the result. But as Nick also remembered the note saying that these results were also meant to save _precious_ time, staring off into nothing and wishing for the result to disappear, they were wasting time. Nick finally, though hesitantly, looked down at the two inch screen that provided the identification.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Nick peering down at the pixels on the screen. "Is it Greg?" Catherine asked, her voice threatening to break, praying that her assumption was completely irrational.

But Nick's silence said it all.

Catherine didn't know how to react to this distraught news. As torturous as it was to both her and Nick to look at the carved flesh that came from their friend, she couldn't even begin to comprehend what the actual torture that Greg suffered through was like. Still, she was unable to comprehend why Calvin was so heartless as to do this to Greg. With what Nick had said earlier, she couldn't disagree with his statement in the slightest way. Calvin was a methodical son-of-a-bitch.

"We should probably get going; start processing the scene," Nick then suggested, disrupting the disturbing silence.

With no other better suggestion, Catherine silently nodded her head. Still holding onto the fingerprint scanner, she then took that and the flimsy piece of flesh that was still placed upon the scanner and brought it over to her open field kit. She then proceeded to bag-and-tag the skin followed by the envelope that Nick then handed to her, and then placed the scanner back into her field kit.

"So you said to head down to the basement?" Nick asked Brass who was still standing next to them on the front porch.

"Yeah, that's where you guys are going to find the evidence that you need," he replied.

Without another word, Nick and Catherine both picked up their field kits and returned back into Calvin's home. As they both made their way through the door though, they turned their attention to the trace that Nick has scene the first time that he had entered the house. Before he proceeded to take one further step, he stopped at the door and quickly photographed the scuffed shoe impression at the bottom of the door frame and the red trace at the center. With the red trace though, he grabbed a swab and the phenolphthalein, but before he checked to confirm of the red substance was blood, Nick collected a few broken white scraps wedged between some wood splinters that almost looked as if they could be nail clippings. Once he collected the scraps, he then dropped the solution onto the red cotton swab and the phenolphthalein instantly turned the q-tip into a deep fuchsia pink.

Seeing these results, Nick's emotions were at this point so spent that he couldn't even try to muster up the energy to react to what he found. Being in this house once again, the same vibe from earlier had returned yet again, but this time, it felt worse. He knew what that feeling was and unable to do anything to dismiss the building guilt, the only thing he could think to do was to muddle through his emotional struggles that he was going through with this case and just process the scene and get out of this house as soon as possible.

After Nick placed the evidence in his field kit, he and Catherine finally headed for the basement. It was the first door on their left, the door that he had stopped at right before he left Calvin's house. Calvin told him it was nothing more then a storage closet, but as he peered at the actual display that was sheltered behind a wooden door, the abyss beckoning at his feet wasn't anything near as innocent. Even though the flickering fluorescent lights were on revealing that the seemingly endless staircase did come to an end, the investigation would prove to lead them to disturbing conclusions that he figured would never end.

Taking the first step, a vicious quiver was sent through his spine as he heard the unsteady dense creak that the step made, as did the rest of them. The closer that he got to the main floor, the air surrounding the basement seemed to get colder and colder, but Nick could depict if this was based off of the chilling light fixtures the complemented the overall appearance of the torture chamber in an eerie way, or if it was the disturbing chill that he felt within as he began to increasingly dread having to process the scene.

Having finally reached the final step, Nick stopped, frozen by the sight of a small deep crimson red blood pool at the bottom of the stairs. Looking at it, never had red looked to bold, clean or pristine, yet so lifeless and deathly. It reminded him of a single red rose's petals that were so boldly represented in black and white macabre horror films. Never has such eeriness engulfed his soul as he merely observed blood before. Coming to this conclusion, he made a mental note to stay clear of blood while processing the basement.

Taking a long stride, Nick stepped over the blood pool and decided to search for evidence else where. As Catherine made her way down the rest of the stairs, also choosing to leap over the small blood pool, she stood next to Nick and observed the grim prison with him. To the naked eye, to both Nick and Catherine, the contents filling the room didn't appear to hold much of a significant value to them, but they both knew that once they fully began to process the room, they would eventually unmask its true horrors.

Excusing the distraught realization that they both anticipated, Nick and Catherine both picked a central area to begin processing. Catherine had simply turned around and began to photograph the blood pool at the bottom of the stairs and as well collected a sample of it. Before she tucked the capsule away in her kit though, she placed a few droplets of phenolphthalein solution on the swab and watched the color transformation. As expected, the thick red substance was indeed blood.

Nick on the other hand was intrigued by the work benches that were located on the opposite side of where the knocked over chair was that he had assumed was the chair Greg was bound to. Nick made his way over toward the benches and began to photograph their layout. There was only one section of the three benches that was cleared off and there sat a couple of broken and dull knifes and also the familiar torture device, the blow torch. Nick photographed the items and shortly after bagged the items.

As Catherine finished up with blood pool, she then turned her attention over toward the chair that was knocked over. Approaching it and lifting up the chair from the ground, Catherine then noticed a few sources and trails of bile. From the video, she only saw Greg relieve himself once, but in the video, it didn't seem too extreme. Seeming that there were at least five other sources, she began to grow worried, considering the pain that Greg must have endured with having the acidic bile tear at his raw esophagus. Her sympathy went out to Greg, but she couldn't let that affect her performance at the moment. Setting aside her hurt, she continued to collect the evidence, getting samples from each source of bile.

Finishing photographing the familiar torture tools, Nick began to photograph the remaining items that covered the work benches. Observing the items for the moment without any means of analyzing what he was looking at, he took numerous snapshots of scattered photos and folders that covered the tables. After merely documenting the layout, he finally began to skim through some of the pictures. It was then the he became exceptionally disturbed as he came to realize what the pictures were and who they were of. Most of them seemed to be of Greg, but they weren't just of him as he also saw a few pictures of him self, as well as Catherine, Sara, Langston, Hodges, Super Dave, and even Brass.

The pictures were kept very meticulously organized, even if they were currently in a scattered fashion. Looking into the folders, they consisted of several log and journal entries that were also all dated. From what Nick could see, the ones that were laid out on the tables seemed to date back to about a year ago, but further exploring the area around him, looking beneath the tables, there were more crates with more files. Picking a random crate, Nick saw that these files were dealing with the year of 2008. Once again picking a random file and skimming through it, the pictures in the file were of Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Greg and they were working a scene dealing with a stolen dump truck with a DB inside of it.

What he had found, it was an understatement to say that Nick was disturbed by this finding. What he was looking at was well structured and extremely meticulous documentation of their daily lives, being dated back from a year to two years ago; it was disturbing to Nick to consider how long Calvin had been watching them over the years.

While Nick began to vigorously photograph his disturbing finding, Catherine continued to photograph the scene of where Greg's torture mostly took place. Another one of her finds consisted of a damp and bloody rag that was on the floor and not the far away from the chair. There wasn't much that she was able to do with the rag at this point, so she simply bagged-and tagged it. Near the rag though and behind the chair, there was another source of blood that was also formed into a small blood pool. And as always, Catherine photographed the blood, swabbed it, but this time just simply put it in her kit. She figured that she didn't need to confirm something that was so depressing for an answer that she already knew.

As she returned to her kit to place her collected evidence inside, her attention was then placed else where as her head snapped up to stare at the ceiling. Nick offered the same reaction as he gazed up at the ceiling as well. They were both quiet; listening.

"Nick, can you hear Brass?" Catherine whispered, and looking over at him saw Nick response when he silently shook his head yes.

Both Nick and Catherine could hear Brass walking down the hall and talking to an officer in the room above them, and not only could they hear his footsteps, but they could hear the conversation.

"What room is above us Catherine?"

"I'm not sure," she responded, but then Catherine got an idea. Taking out her phone, she called Brass. As his phone began to ring, it could clearly be heard from above them.

When Brass's phone rang, he looked at it, and when he saw who was calling, he got confused. "Catherine, you're calling me from down stairs?"

When Brass answered the phone and started to speak into the phone, instead of holding it right next to her ear, she held the phone at an arms distance and covered the ear piece so that she couldn't hear him through the phone, but so she could hear him through the floor boards above her; her theory proved correct as she heard his every word.

Catherine then responded back into the phone, "Yeah, hey what room are you in?" And after she asked, she drew the phone away from her ear again.

"I'm in the living room; why?"

When Catherine heard Brass inform her that he was in the living room, her heart skipped a beat. The realization that Greg could have heard some of the conversation that was taking place above him was one thing, but when she found out that it was the room that they had been questioning Richards in, it put her in a mind set where she really couldn't get a grasp onto the events that had just taken place the past few hours. Realizing that Greg probably heard her and Nick thanking his kidnapper, she couldn't even begin to imagine how helpless and abandoned he must have felt.

"Do you think Greg could hear us, while he was down here?" asked Nick.

"If he was conscious," stated Catherine in response to Nick. She then returned to the conversation on the phone, "Thanks Brass; that was all I needed to know." And she hung up the phone.

"Catherine, do you think that Greg heard me when I stopped at the door?" Nick asked.

Tears started to fill Catherine's eyes at the complete realization. "Nick, I think he heard a hell of a lot more then just that. I think he heard our every foot step, our voices, and every word that we said of thanks and gratitude. He knew we were here."

Nick finally started to get teary too. The fact that they were in the house where their friend was and the fact that he was right below them and hearing all that they were saying was finally starting to affect him. "Greg was probably praying to god for me to open that door." Nick then looked back at Catherine and wiped away his tears. Excusing the tears and his currently emotionally unstable state, he presented an opportunity to forget about all things emotional that he was dealing with. "Let's just finish processing. What have you found?"

"I haven't found much, mostly just physical evidence. I collected a couple blood sources and a couple samples of vomit. I also found a rag," she informed. "And what about you?" she then asked.

"I found a blow torch and a few knifes, but that's not even the mother load. Come check this out," Nick requested as he motioned her to come over toward him.

As Catherine began to approach Nick, she saw several plastic crates packed with manila file folders. "What are these?" she asked.

"Meticulous documentation," Nick simply explained. "Logs and journal entries all dated and everything and a shit load of pictures."

Catherine briefly looked at the pictures that were scattered across the tables and first noticed that from what she could see, they were of Greg. "Are all the pictures of Greg?"

"No, but he is in most of them, from what I can tell right now. But everyone seems to be in these pictures. Greg, you, me, Sara, Langston, Brass, I'm sure everyone is here, dating back to at least 2008 from what I can see."

"2004," Catherine then stated.

"What?" Nick asked, confused by what she meant, but also hoping that he didn't hear her correctly and understood what she meant.

"This file here, it says 2004," Catherine pointed out, though wishing she hadn't, hating to have the realization that there is a chance that her and her team have been watched for five to six years.

"Well this will be interesting to look through once we get back to the lab," Catherine pointed out, intrigued by what they would find within these files.

"Speaking of the lab, you ready to head back there?"

"Yeah, I think I've collected everything of use."

"Did you use the UV-light at all?" Nick asked out of simple curiosity.

"I didn't, but just to check and see if we can find anything else, might as well."

With his kit by his side, Nick grabbed his neon orange classes and UV-light. "You can turn off the lights now," Nick informed.

Though the eerie white haze that filled the room due to the fluorescent light fixtures in the room had disappeared, a white horror still filled the room. A faint consideration that they could find a few loose spittle droppings was all that he was hoping to find with the assistance of the UV-light, but the blank drag that was scattered along the floor on the opposite side of the room was blatantly visible in the worst possible way.

"Do you see anything?" Catherine simply questioned, but she wasn't expecting to receive the response that she got out of Nick.

His voice was already breaking and slightly cracked when he tried to answer her. "Catherine… there's… you need to grab your glasses," Nick finally advised, as he simply couldn't tell her what he was looking at.

Terror within increased as she immediately expected the worse and prayed that this was just something that was completely absurd of her to even consider. But she couldn't help herself and automatically assumed the worse in this situation, as Nick's reaction guided this though. As Nick suggested, Catherine grabbed her own pair of neon glasses but before she put them on, she looked at Nick with a pained disbelief in her eyes, hoping to god that it was just her wild imagination that she has built from working this job and that it wasn't going to add to the list of sick and disturbing realities. Nick's dismayed expression beneath the glowing hue of the UV-lights bluntly stated the truth behind her every though. Hesitantly putting on the glasses and walked over and stood next to Nick.

The truth was scene, scattered across the floor. Catherine was in an utter shock. "Oh god, Nick," she said as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Nick was just staring at the white horror spread across the room, and couldn't believe in the slightest of ways what he was seeing. "Please say Calvin didn't do what I think he did to Greg."

* * *

And that concludes chapter 14: Sick Discoveries :D!

Now to express my appreciation to all my fellow readers :D!

For adding The Puppet Masters Game to the favorite stories list, thank you crimescenelove, 77shootingstar, penguinsfan18, and KebaKira.

For alerting, thank you nixxy311, metalminion, and Rasgara

AND FOR MY AMAZING REVIEWERS WHO GAVE ME LIKE ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME SAUCE GIFTS EVER… 103 REVIEWS TO DATE… THANK YOU GreggoAddict, Lady Sally, Didde, CMAli 1, WMG, LoverOfGreg, I LOVE THIS STORY, Caroline, crimescenelover, CrazyLeex, JodsRaine, Io, VisionX23, almostkaity, and Ptitenath92… YOU GUYS ARE JUST…. YOUR AWESOME SAUCE YOUR SO AWESOME HA HA! But seriously guys, thank you so much for all the kind words :D!

Ptitanath92: To answer your question... from what I can understand of what you are asking… Calvin is the brain of this operation and Mark is the brawn. The title that I have chosen, it's a metaphor that will be unveiled, though it's not that complex to figure out. I mean what does a puppeteer do?

JodsRaine: I realized that you asked me a question chapter 12 that I didn't answer… so now I am answering it :D! Honestly, it was just a torturous thing that I wanted to do. Originally, I just burning Greg, but I then formulated the whole Help Me/White Lie thing and I really liked that… so then I took the blow torch and just burnt that into his chest, but it seemed too messy and inconsistent… so then I decided to burn the knife and then carve the words into his chest like that. Though as I worked on my re-write, I realized that I could incorporate Greg's whole fear with fire so I then added Greg's thoughts regarding that. So I hope that answers your question :D

Also, I like that you were the 99th reviewer :D! I like numbers that are in the 11 family ha ha cause yeah, as you know (I think) 11 is my lucky number :D! so yeah, 11x9=99 AND THAT IS AWESOME SAUCE IN MY BOOK :D! In the end, I just love your reviews, no matter what number they come in at :D!

Also, I don't think I have ever said this but this I am just going to throw this out there, but this story IS NOT a slash. It's just no my thing, so for those supporters out there of The Love (XP), it is a concept that will never ever even begin to exist in this story.

Oh, and to my reviewers who commented on their aggravation with Lauryn's lack of reaction to try to help Greg… well Nick shares the same frustration, and trust me, he doesn't hold back next chapter :D!

So yeah, I guess that is it everyone. :D! Reviews, Questions, Comments, Alerting and Favoriting my story or me as an author, and hell, just for simply taking the time to read my story, it's all appreciated :D! Thank you guys so much :D!


	15. Guilty Until Proven Innocent

I swear, it feels like just yesterday I posted a new chapter for you guys, but yeah, it's already been six days. I kinda wrote this chapter from scratch in the matter of a day. This whole chapter originally consisted of less then two pages of random questions and Nick believed Lauryn and was all grateful… and all in all… it was a sappy mess :P. So yeah, I completely changed Nick's perception of Lauryn Miller and I think this is a WAY better re-write :D!

Also, I wanna start to ask you guys a question every chapter because I love getting to hear how you guys interpret the events in my story. So keep this question in the back of your mind while you read this chapter and answer it in a review if you want to. And feel free to ask me a question too because I love answering questions :D!

Here is the question: Whose side are you on? Like do you think Nick was right to attack Lauryn the way that he did or did she deserve it? Do you agree with Nick's justification or reasoning? Just what are your thoughts on the whole scene between Nick and Lauryn?

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and there is a lot of dialogue. Also, for those out there who hate swearing, there is swearing in this chapter so I guess here is my warning to you.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Guilty Until**** Proven Innocent**

Sexual assault and rape victims, these were always cases that Nick had a hard time with, especially when it came to the emotional aspect. Being a victim of molestation, back when he was nine, it was a horror from his childhood that still had affected him to this day. Though this moment provided strength within him, a determination to bring the sick psychological tormentors to justice, it also evoked a weakness; struggles with his emotions, whether it was getting too emotionally involved or letting this rampage guide him beyond the will of rational thinking. At this moment he was giving into his weakness.

The semen that was glowing upon the luminescent of the UV-light, the conscience awareness of it clouded his mind and brought Nick into a vengeful state. The vulgar thought of imagining what Greg was forced to succumb too, it evoked a new sense desperation to save his tormented friend.

As he and Catherine were loading up his Tahoe with their field kits and evidence, Brass approached them from the side. Brass noticed the weariness of the two CSI's, and though he was curious as to what they found that would present the defeat in their spirits, he figured that their emotions were no place from him to question. Instead, he simply asked, "So are you guys done processing the basement?"

There was silence at first between Nick and Catherine. They were done with processing the basement at the moment, but with memories of past cases and having to return to crime scenes to collect more evidence, the two of them were praying that this would be the rare occasion where they wouldn't have to return. Every discovery unveiled a new sick reality and already reaching their limit for tolerance of these disturbing recoveries, they never wanted to return to that basement ever again, let alone the neighborhood.

Catherine noticed that the silence between them had carried out for a while though, so she was the one to respond to Brass's question. "Yeah, we've got all that we need," she quietly replied.

"Alright," Brass merely answered, taking hint to the despair that was felt from Catherine weary response.

"Have you talked to the girl who called in Calvin yet?" Catherine then asked as an attempt to provide an opportunity to remove her disturbed thoughts from their state of dwell.

"I was actually coming over to see if you two were ready to talk to her now."

Catherine was anything but ready to question another witness. With this job and more then a decades worth of experience, on countless occasions had she encountered witnesses who have flat out lied to her face, but the trickery that Calvin pulled, his level of deceit that he presented was incomparable. Walking into this questioning, it would without a doubt be a struggle for her to look at this witness and consider her to be viable or trustworthy. But regardless of her played mind toying with her sense of doubt, like always, she would treat this woman as if she was like any other witness; she would treat her with consideration and respect and would place her trust in her hands. Lauryn Miller was a witness, just like how Calvin Richards was.

After Nick shut the trunk to his Tahoe, the three of them walked over to Lauryn Miller's house. Nick was feeling the same way that Catherine was, with the inner doubt of believing anything that came out of Lauryn's mouth would be the truth, but unlike Catherine, Nick would refuse to believe her at all. She was a witness, just like Calvin Richards, which meant that she could just as easily be lying through her teeth.

As they approached the house and as Nick looked up at her home, he saw Lauryn standing on her porch, just like Calvin, waiting from them. Seeing her with the same plastic, welcoming grin, it reminded him of when he approached Calvin's home, seeing the _innocent witness_ that would restore their hope for finding Greg. Who was she to even consider placing his trust in? Doing that, he knew he would get taken advantage of again.

Walking up the porch steps and approaching Lauryn, Brass took over the introductions. "Lauryn Miller, my name is Jim Brass; I'm the one who you talked on the phone with. This is CSI Catherine Willows and Nick Stokes and they are currently running an investigation dealing with a kidnapping and we believe that the man that you saw who was taken is our missing guy, so we're going to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind," Brass announced in his authoritive tone.

"Of course sir, you can ask me anything," Lauryn humbly replied. "And if you'd like, we can talk inside."

Agreeing to offer her helpful services and an invitation into her home, they were actions that perfectly mimicked Calvin's. "Why, do you want us to go inside? You have something that you're trying to seamlessly hide from us?" Nick asked in an invasive way with a stern smirk fixed upon his face.

As Catherine heard Nick's snarky response, she shot a fierce yet questionable glare at him. Catherine feared that with this questioning, Nick would take to his emotions, which he was already proving to her that he would. The inconclusive accusation that he was already attacking Lauryn with, she feared as to what Lauryn's response would be.

Lauryn had heard what Nick had said, but she was confused by what he said, and how to respond to it. "Pardon," she questioned him, hoping for a clarification of whether what he said was just a question, or even a possible accusation.

"I'm sorry, my partner is just being thorough," Catherine quickly responded excusing Nick's crude remark but then immediately responded to her request. "And yes we would love to come in your house and sit down, as it would be more comfortable I am assuming."

She was simply confused, but shrugged it off, for the time being. Instead, she returned to her hospitality and invited in the detective and CSI's. "Alright, well you can come this way and make yourselves comfortable in the living room right over here to your left," she invited.

With everything thing that Lauryn was saying falling into a perfect alignment to what Calvin was saying, Nick had the utmost anticipation that she was going to be a conniving liar as well. Walking up to the front door, he quickly examined the door frame looking for signs of a struggle and as he walked into her living room, his eyes were glued to the floor and his ears were trained, listening for anything along the lines of a desperate sounding cry. With Lauryn presenting herself as a witness, like how Calvin did, Nick considered if this was another on of Calvin's tricks. Portray Lauryn as a witness, but Greg was once again right below them. It seemed to be just another all too perfect scheme.

As the three of them entered her home, Lauryn followed in after them and they all made their way into Lauryn's living room and took their seats.

"So, starting at the beginning, we just need you to tell us everything that you saw," Brass informed wanting to get right to business.

Lauryn immediately felt like there was a massive spotlight on her. It almost felt like she was the final contestant in a spelling bee and was given the final word to spell. Even though she knew how to spell it, she barred the pressure of potentially spelling it wrong. She knew her story and her facts, but with the hostile nature that Nick was already portraying, she was scared that if she accidentally misinformed them in some way, it would come back to her, and she could end up looking as a guilty suspect. Regardless of her nerves though, she took a deep breath and with confidence, she began to tell the Officers what she had scene.

"So a little more then an hour ago, I decided to take some time to read my book, and as I came into my living room and sat down, I then saw a really tall man walking across the cul-de-sac and over to the Donnar's house. I found this odd seeming that I had never scene this guy before and also that he dropped a package off there as well. After that, he then went back in the direction which he came and walked into Calvin's house. That's what was really strange to me seeming that the Donnar's were arrested no more then a few hours ago and he was dropping a package off at an empty house," Lauryn firstly informed.

Listening to her statement, it almost sounded to Brass that this is all that Lauryn had to offer. Coming to this conclusion of his own, Brass became confused, seeming that her statement seemed to have a current massive lack of information, especially when he compared the statement he was received to what she had explained over the phone. "And that's it?" he questionable asked.

"No; after he went inside, I was kinda watching Calvin's house, just seeing if anything would happen after that."

With Lauryn's response, it presented an opportunity for Nick to call her out, to question the girl that seemingly presented herself as the innocent witness. "Why would you just assume that something was going to happen?" Nick asked, sounding as if he was accusing her.

Nick's intimidating presence and accusatory questions, it made her skin flush as her nerves began to rise. It wasn't that she had a problem with Nick's question or truthfully answering it, but it was his blunt nature that was making her stir. As she tried to ignore her increasing discomfort, she finally answered his question. "Well as I stated before, with a guy I had never scene before dropping off a package at the Donnar's, I just found that strange. Calvin seldom ever lets anyone in his house and the fact that this stranger has the privilege to just walk in, it was peculiar. I also never saw anyone enter or leave that house, at lest not since you guys left Calvin's home. So why would Calvin drop off a package at an empty house, especially of two neighbors who he personally knows."

"Out of curiosity Lauryn, how do you know all this information? How do you know that my partner and I were in that house? Why do you know so much information along the lines of who has and hasn't been in Calvin's house?" Nick asked with a smug confidence, figuring that his questions were putting her in a very vulnerable position that could potentially cause her to give up some information.

The intention that Nick had implied with his questions, Lauryn was instantly feeling attacked, and Catherine could tell how uneasy she was. Though Catherine was still finding it hard to trust a witness, especially one who seemed to have a good amount of dirt on Calvin, she was still treating as if she was a valuable witness. Nick on the other hand, he was giving into his emotions and Catherine knew that when Nick gave into this, rational thinking was something that was out of the question. Knowing that there was nothing that she could do to prevent Nick's hostile nature, like before, she simply excused his abrasive attitude. "Lauryn, if you could please continue with your statement," Catherine calmly encouraged, trying to relax the tense girl.

Hearing the gentle calm in Catherine's voice, it did put Lauryn slightly at ease. With her request though, it was basically stating once again to ignore her colleague and his questions of attack, so that is what Lauryn did and continued with her statement.

"So as I was watching Calvin's house, a minute or two later, I then saw the front door open. The really tall guy from before came out first and he just stood on the porch, and then I saw something fly through the door and roughly land on the ground, and then Calvin walked out side. Calvin and the tall guy then picked up the thing that they threw and we taking him toward his car. I had then realized that it was a person and that was when I kinda freaked out."

"Did you do anything?" Brass asked, not of accusation but curiosity.

When she was asked this, Lauryn instantly began to silently curse herself as she reminisced on her lack of an effort to help the man in the trunk. Her response to Brass, it was quiet, hesitant, and tentative. "I just… I kinda froze up. Like I wanted to help… but I didn't really know what I could do," she explained apologetically.

There was a short silence between everyone, for no one really knew how to respond to what Lauryn had informed. But Brass found a way to break the silence. "And what happened after that?"

The reminiscence of this she thought was worse though having to think about the consequence of her lack of action. "They put him in the trunk of Calvin's car; a black Crown Victorian," she somberly replied but tried to redeem the dismal sense by adding the specification of Calvin's car.

Her response was excused though as another question was immediately issued though. "And did they leave after that?" Brass questioned once again.

This question triggered an interesting response, one with events that would intrigue the mind with curiosity. "Yes, but first, Calvin, it looked like he put something on his door and then he went back over to his car, but he left his front door open. After that, then they left. I tried to get the plates but they were too far away. I then called the police."

"We can pull up Calvin's auto information and we'll get his plates through that so that's not that big of a deal. Plus we've got an APB put out on a black Crown Victorian so we are making some head-way with locating his vehicle," Brass informed.

With her full statement given informing the events that had taken place, it seemed to Catherine that Brass was finished with his questioning. But with her need to be thorough, just as an extra precaution, Catherine simply asked, "So is there anything else you can think to tell us?"

Catherine's question, it was the dismissal of needing Lauryn for any further current assistance, but Nick still didn't feel satisfied with everything that Lauryn had been telling them. Regardless of what Lauryn had to say in response to Catherine's question, Nick issued his own. "Actually Miss Miller, I was wondering if you ever heard anything coming from Calvin's house, at any time."

Turning her attention to Nick, Lauryn was a little timid to answer the man, but as one to respect others, answered him. "Not that I can recall," she answered.

"So you never heard screaming, or anything like that," Nick asked with a bitter intrigue.

"No," was all she simply stated.

There was a short silence that was held between the two of them, eyes locked with each other, Lauryn looking for a sense of understanding within Nick's and Nick scrutinizing her liability. Nick then spoke.

"I'm sorry Ms. Miller, but I am just having a hard time believing that you didn't hear anything taking place in that house, especially with living only a house apart from Mr. Richards," Nick suggested, his voice playing with his thick southern accent to embellish his authority in this situation.

Lauryn caught on to his passive yet suggestive intentions though. "I'm telling the truth sir. I haven't heard a single thing," she implied, a strength beginning to show in her spirit, standing by the truth that she knew.

The silence grew between the two of them once again. With the Texan revealing his full fledged accent, it instantly reminded Lauryn of a scene from an old west movie, where their was a bone-rattling stare held between two tough bastards as an eerie silence filled everything, where you could only hear the sound of a tumbleweed brushing through the air and sand. Their breathing was the only sound in the room, and finally, beneath the hollow silence, the first gun shot was heard, and the words cut through her soul.

"Are you working with Calvin?" Nick viciously asked with anger in his eyes.

"What? No! Why would you ask that?" Lauryn questioned with both confusion and anger in her voice.

"Because I want to know how you could just stand here and watch someone get kidnapped!"

This was a question that she had been asking her self ever since she saw that car drive away. "I wanted to help…"

"Then why didn't you?" Nick practically screamed at her.

"I wanted to help but I didn't want to get put in danger!" she reasoned, having it be a sensible explanation.

Failing to see her reasoning though, Nick still accused her. "You could have done something though!"

"Like what?" Lauryn screamed back at him, finally getting fed up with Nick attacking her for something that she regretted. "Tell me what I could have done? I'll do that next time!"

"There might not even be a next time!" Nick screamed once again, slapping the reality in her face.

But Nick was oblivious to the fact that the reality that she watched someone being kidnapped while she simply did nothing, it was already haunting her conscience. "I'm sorry alright!" she yelled back in defeat, her voice breaking as she practically asked for their forgiveness. "What the hell was I supposed to do though?" she asked though as she poorly defended herself.

"You could have attacked Calvin! You could have grabbed the guy in the car!" Nick suggested, but it was just a suggestion, regardless of how irrational it was when taken into consideration of Lauryn's figure, but she informed Nick of this.

"I'm five foot eight and weigh 130 pounds against two guys who are more then six feet tall; it would be a god damn miracle if I could get close enough to even look at that guy in the eyes. And plus, they had guns too!" she defended.

"Those two bastards are the same men that were shooting at me at the beginning of this when I tried to save him! I at least tried to do some!" Nick retorted with anger.

"Alright, and I applauded you for that! Congratulation! What the hell was I supposed to do though! I didn't stand a god damn chance against them! I sure as hell don't have the physical physique and I also don't own a gun!"

"Fine, then why didn't you call us sooner? Why did you call after they drove away?"

"I told you, I was in shock! I just… I freaked out! I didn't know what to do!"

"I just find it peculiar that you didn't make a call till they were out of your sight," Nick viciously remarked in a way as if he was trying to catch her in a lie to reveal her deceitful plot and intentions.

Lauryn knew exactly what Nick was implying and she was nearing her breaking point with her tolerance for his accusations. "I was the one who called you! I was the one to report what happened! You would think that if I was working with that sick bastard, I probably wouldn't have called you at all? But because I'm _not_ working with Calvin, I called you hoping to help, not to get interrogated and accused for helping!" she retorted.

"Well the first witness is the first suspect, right?" Nick retorted back once again.

Nick's arrogance was driving her mad, but still, she wasn't willing to give into his harsh accusations, instead she chose to turn one around on him. "Then who was Calvin?" she simply yet boldly asked.

"What?" he questioned in confusion.

"I saw you walk over to Calvin's, and you were in there for a while. I'm guessing that you were questioning him. But now, you are saying that I am working with him! Was he a witness, or a suspect?"

"Well he called us and said that he was a witness with information, just like what you did, but for some reason I am getting this vibe from you that you're also feeding us a bull shit story."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, questioning his outrageous and completely extraneous thinking.

"You being an accomplice to a kidnapping!" Nick accused and as well as clearing up Lauryn's befuddlement.

"I said this before; I called you about your missing guy! If I was working with Calvin then why would I lead you to him?"

"Well why wouldn't you? That seems to be something that Calvin favors, fucking with our minds."

"Why would I fuck with your mind? Seeing what Calvin was doing, okay that messed up my mind; that was bad enough for me! I just want to help god dammit, but you won't listen to me!"

"Why should I? Why should I believe you, of all people? You're no different then all the other witnesses and suspects that I have had encounters with over the years! Why are you so much better?"

"Because I want to bring that bastard to justice for doing what he did to that guy! I called you guys to help this broken guy! I want to help you so you can help him! Alright, I just want to frickin help you!"

"And so did Calvin! Calvin wanted to help too and look where my friend is now!"

"What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do? I can't do anything right now to help your friend? I'm sorry okay? You don't think I wanted to do more?"

"I don't care if you _wanted _to do more to help, I care about what you _did_ do, because that is the thing that dictates where my friend is right now! And you did NOTHING!"

"I was scared!" she restated once again for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I can guaran-damn-tee that my friend was a hell of a lot more terrified then what you could even begin to comprehend in your self-centered mind."

"Don't you talk to me like that ass wipe! I swear to god I am two seconds away from kicking your ass out of my damn house!"

"And you claim that you're not working with Calvin! We are FINALLY getting somewhere and it's now that you're choosing to discontinue your helpful services."

"Alright, one: we haven't gotten anywhere with this damn questioning! I invite you into my house and give you my statements, but in return I get accused by some jackass! And two: I'm not discontinuing my helpful services, but I am kicking a disrespectful dick out of my house!"

"Every witness is accused at some point ma'am."

"There is a difference between a simple question to ponder an accusation and pointing a finger and screaming at a person you're guilty."

"I never said that you were guilty."

"And I never said that I think you're an arrogant prick."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You never said that I was guilty as I never said that you are an arrogant prick, but you have inferred it, accusing me of working with Calvin and I called you a disrespectful dick. In your eyes, before you even know my story, you're accusing me."

"Well you don't know my story either!"

"Granted, but do you really have to treat me like you are?"

"Till I prove that you're not guilty, you're guilty in my eyes."

"Well it's great to see that today's law enforcement knows the constitution. Innocent till proven guilty, well, apparently not in Vegas."

"Maybe it should be the other way around."

"Yeah, then maybe your friend wouldn't be where he is at, because then Calvin would be in jail and your friend wouldn't be in the trunk of his car."

"And then I wouldn't have to be having this conversation with this bitch right now would I?"

"Nick! Stop it now!" Catherine screamed at him knowing that now he had pushed a boundary.

"And then I wouldn't have had to of scene your friend get kidnapped! Then I wouldn't have to feel like shit that I wasn't able to do anything!"

"You could have done something, fuckin anything! Just how the hell could you just sit there are watch! You have no idea what has happened to him; what he's been through!

"Nick!"

"If you just tried something, hell ran outside and said that you were calling the police, just let him know that someone was there, someone was going to help him… you have no idea how shattered his hope is right now!"

By this moment, Nick's emotions were so all over the place that he finally became so overwhelmed that he began to cry.

It was an understatement for Catherine to say that Nick had reached his breaking point. Completely overwhelmed with everything, she knew that it was time to excuse him from the room completely. "Nick, you're done alright. Just go to the car," she firmly yet calmly ordered.

With only a broken gleam seen in his eyes, Nick did as he was told and left the room and went to his car.

The room was eerie with an awkward silence. As Catherine looked over at their witness, she could see that she had been crying too. Catherine thought it was justifiable for her to defend herself with Nick so strongly attacking her and respected her for that strength that the once timid witness held within her. But then again, some of her attack she considered were rather harsh, but it was an evenly matched argument between her and Nick. In the end though, the two of them were emotionally broken, but because of this, she saw a true and genuine nature within Lauryn. Catherine had believed her and everything that she was saying, and it was because of how it had emotionally affected her. Offering her humble consideration for this girl with her feeble spirit, she spoke to her with means of comfort.

"Ms. Miller, I apologize for all of that, I truly am. I should have stopped him sooner. I knew where he was headed with this questioning the first time he opened his mouth and I really shouldn't of let it go this far."

Her apology was genuine, but Lauryn thought it was misplaced. Catherine shouldn't be apologizing to her, as it should be the other way around. "Ms. Willows, you don't need to apologize for that. I instigated it just as much as he did. I really do want to apologize for some of the things I said as I don't think I was in the place to," she firstly stated. As she worded together what she was going to say next though, a fresh formation of tears welled in her ducts. "But I honestly, truly, from the bottom of my heart wanted to help him, but I just didn't know how," she stated once again as she let out a heart-wrenching sob and dropped her head into her hands.

Catherine could sense the genuine pain that Lauryn felt within and believed her that she wanted to help Greg. "Don't listen to what Nick said," she started off to say. "When you think about it, in a situation like the one that you were in, there is no right or wrong way to react, and I honestly think you did… a proper thing," Catherine implied with suggestion and reason. "When we're put in a situation like this, we constantly think about the alternatives. Things we could have done, should have done, things we wish we did instead of that; the possibilities are endless. For all you know, if you did what Nick suggested and ran outside to try to stop them, you said that they had guns, so they could have shot you, or they could have grabbed you and then we would be dealing with a double kidnapping. What's important is that you understand that no matter what happened, you've helped us."

Lauryn took comfort to Catherine's words. With the harsh and biased accusations that Nick had attacked her with, it was comforting to know that the law wasn't completely against her and viewing her as a guilty suspect rather then the helpful person she was. Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she looked up at Catherine and informed her with a faint smile. "I still wanna help," she informed.

"And right now, we can use all the help that we can get," Catherine stated with a simple smile. With all the ciaos that has occurred, and to finally find someone who was genuine, it finally brought a sense of happiness to her, something that was lost since she had breakfast with her team at the diner. "You can take your car and follow behind us; we'll probably be leaving in a few minutes."

A simple nod was all that it took and Lauryn, Catherine, and Brass all left Lauryn's home. Brass and the rest of the team all filtered into their squad cars and Lauryn got into her own. As Catherine approached Nick's Tahoe, once again she saw Nick sitting in the passenger seat of his own car which implied that she would be driving home once again.

"Are you alright Nick," she asked once she got into the car and shut the door.

For a second, Nick was silent, but after a deep breath, he confessed. "I don't know. I can't believe her Catherine, I just, I can't bring myself to believe her. Hell I don't believe anybody in this god damn neighborhood! She said that she didn't hear a single god damn noise from that house, bull shit! I mean, we heard his screams on the video, so I say that it's impossible that no one heard a god damn thing."

"We could ask a couple uni's to stay back and get statements from the rest of the tenants," Catherine suggested.

Liking her suggestion, Nick merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. "If someone did hear screaming though, then that bitch is lying!" he then retorted, his mind returning to its insensitive state that wanted to bring down Lauryn at any cost.

"Nick, don't call her that," Catherine snapped at him with a stern glare.

"Then what I am supposed to call her?"

The smug nature that Nick was portraying for his unjustifiable disrespect for this girl was incredibly disappointing to Catherine. "Nick, what the hell do you think? Her name is Lauryn Miller and she is our witness!"

"Why trust her?" he asked with a smug smirk and a sense within him that even considering trusting her would be completely irrational.

"She is coming down to the station right now; she might have some information that could help us," she informed, attempting to portray her helpful nature in Nick's eyes.

But Nick saw past the intention and only say the con in her, the deceit. "And who is taking her?"

"She is driving her self," Catherine replied with confidence and trust that she believe had been rightfully endowed in Lauryn.

"You really think she's going to follow us? She could very easily escape," Nick once again implied, dismissing the chance to find truth within Lauryn.

"And we have a full squad of uni's that can chase her down, but Nick, I honestly doubt that she would do that," Catherine truthfully stated.

"So you're trusting her now?" Nick asked, completely shocked that she was so easily charmed by Lauryn and her false tears.

"Nick, I believe that she is a viable witness," she once again stated, standing by what she believed.

As their discussion of disagreement continued, it was then interrupted by a knock on Catherine's window. As so looked to her left, she saw Brass standing there with a package in his hands. As an automatic response, she immediately rolled down her window.

"Lauryn reminded me to grab this? It's the package that was left on the Donnar's front porch," Brass informed.

As Catherine looked at the package, there wasn't a note on it so there was no telling who it was for, but Catherine figured that as long as it came from Calvin's house, the package, it belonged to her and Nick. "You can put it in the back seat," Catherine ordered and Brass did as so. But as he was getting ready to walk away, Catherine then remembered of what her and Nick had briefly talked about. "Brass, Nick and I were also wondering if you could keep a couple uni's here to go door-to-door and question the other neighbors, see if they've heard anything or if they have any information on Calvin Richards."

"Yeah sure Catherine; no problem."

"Thanks Brass," she said offering her sense of gratitude and appreciation as she always did before he walked away.

When Brass left though, Catherine was pulled right back into the hate written environment that Nick had expressed for Lauryn. "Who's to say that isn't a bomb?" Nick snidely suggested. "I mean we probably would have forgotten the package, but she pointed it out from Brass to grab so that we don't forget it."

"Or because she didn't want us to forget it because this is a package from Calvin and she knows how important this could be to us."

"How do we know that she didn't put the package there for Calvin? What if that package isn't even from Calvin, it was just an elaborate story she invented. Or what if there's a bomb in the package?"

"Well then it was nice knowing you Nick."

"It's just something to consider!"

"Okay, we can also consider if it's a possibility if Greg's head is in the package, hell it could even be a frickin birthday present for the Donnar's! Nick, you have no evidence to accuse Lauryn Miller so stop it alright!" Catherine finally snapped at him!

"Catherine, why do you trust her?"

"Why don't you trust her?"

"Because she is just like Calvin! Everything that she has done, Calvin did the exact same thing!"

"Calvin played the persona of an innocent witness, Lauryn is the innocent witness! Stop attacking Lauryn when you should be attacking Calvin! You're unleashing your rage against the wrong person Nick!"

"I don't care! She is just like Calvin! What has she done that been different from what Calvin did?"

"Calvin never offered to go down to the station for further questioning."

"So what! That is just going to give her a greater opportunity to toy with our minds, just like Calvin. Catherine, that girl is guilty," Nick stated yet again, his anger coming through in his voice as the aggression increased and as his Texan accent became thicker.

Catherine wasn't intimidated by him though and only offered him the same means of intimidation with her sternly fixed stare. With the same level of authority in her voice as well, she then explained one vital variable in this whole thing. "Nick, regardless if she's innocent or guilty, for the time being, there is only one thing that dictates her position in this case, and that is the fact that she is innocent until proven guilty."

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So, chapter 15… what did you guys think?

I got quite a few story favorites and alerts this week which was AWESOME :D!

For favoriting, thank you KathainBowen, Minako Mikoto, Milea-chan, Violet Eternity, and PigSHOCKrabbit.

For alerting, many thanks to happycamper1111, Minako Mikoto, Shamy1903, Milea-chan, and PigSHOCKrabbit.

And the reviews… oh the lovely lovely reviews :D Thank you CMAli1, CrazyLeex, Jennypen, JodsRaine, VisionX23, WMG, Hmm, Minako Mikoto, and PigSHOCKrabbit. Getting reviews from you guys, its one of the best parts of my day :D! Thank you all so much.

Jennypen: I hope you have forgiven me for the month wait… I mean I got this out in less then a week ha ha :D

JodsRaine: When you said that the title fit for the last chapter… yes… I agree… but the true representation for the title, it will be fully represented in a later chapter… and it does a nice job of tying everything together flawlessly :D. And saying that… well, my story was originally inspired by wanting to kidnap Greg because he is just so damn hot, and I kinda have this sick thing in my brain that inspires an intrigue in torture… so yeah, I just had to mix the hot deliciousness of Greg Sanders in a deathly perilous situation and BAM! You've already got the makings of a fantastic hot and angsty story… but alas, Calvin's intentions aren't as simple. Of course I have a well organized reasoning behind his intentions. It's not because of Greg's inexperience (keep in mind this is season 10 Greg, so he is hot, mature and 34 years old). But as you are growing curious as to Calvin's intentions, Greg is too… and SOME… not all… answers… or riddles I guess would be a better way to define it, they will be reveled… keep in mind… this is a game :D!

VisionX23: I think you have said this in almost every review so I think I will give you a small… hint isn't the right word… insight, into some events that will be happening in about 4 to 5 chapters. Greg makes an extreamly daring escape and is able to contact Nick who successfully runs a trace on Greg's phone. That is all I will offer you though. ;) Oh, and thank you for the compliment about this being my first fanfic… it made me smile :D!

Hmm: Wow… this is the best story that you have ever read… OH MY GOD, THANK YOU SO MUCH :D! It's great to hear that all my hard work is so appreciated so thank you so much for that :D!

PigSHOCKrabbit: I LOVE it when I find fanfics, stories, and books like that… where if you stop reading for a second you will just like die so you just have to read it all in one sitting :D! So I think it is really cool that my story has offered the same source of epic entertainment for you as well. Thank you so much for your review.

Alright, so these are all the words that I have to offer for this chapter. Next chapter, its another Nick and Catherine chapter, but we finally get to get an insight on Calvin Richards, so in a way, they are starting to discover Calvin's intentions behind his fantastic yet merciless and vengeful act to kidnap Greg Sanders :D!

So I would love to hear your responses to my question or even if you have a question of your own that I can answer, and other then that, to everyone, reviewers, favoriters, alerters, and my readers in general… thank you all.


	16. Part 2: The Puppet Master

So I've got a couple opening author notes here for you guys.

1) I had no idea that I was going to introduce the concept so early but I figured that it just worked. So here you go people, I introduce you to the Puppet Master. I was also thinking about it, but I think this is a chapter that defines the moment of change, so I think this is like Part 2 of The Pupper Masters Game :)! I had no idea that I would ever have a Part 2 :D!

2) Also, have you guys ever been so angry that you just had to scream and you screamed so long and so loud that you felt like your throat was bleeding? I've only done this once, as I was having a really rough day and I was really angry and emotional. It felt great to release that but for the rest of the day, my voice was really hoarse. Anyways, I kind used this screaming experience when I wrote a part in this chapter… only it's more intense :O!

3) So last chapter, I said that this chapter was another Nick and Catherine one, but as a request for a Greg scene by my good fanfiction friend The Walking Chill Pill, I added a Greg scene. But then ideas like exploded and the Greg scene became its own chapter… and regarding the Greg related idea explosion… that leads me into my 4th author note…

4) You guys may remember me saying after chapter 12 that I wasn't going to ever write a part about what Calvin did to Greg... well... when your brain explodes with an idea, sometimes you just gotta run with it... and I ran with it.

This is basically like the continuation of the 2nd video from chapter 12, only it is completely told from Greg's perspective (it's not in first person though). It also starts and ends with the_ italics_. I tried to be as conserved as possible, so it's nothing that is TOO drastically over the top… but I would be lying if I said that there weren't any vulgar terms. So this is my warning to you readers.

I also get really in depth with Greg's emotions and such as well. I'll admit... writing it... I was actually really struggling with my emotions too. I also don't think I have ever put so much focus on one part as I did with this scene. It has a fragile nature so it deserved delicate care.

Also, if you guys want to, if you're a person who likes to listen to music while you read, I would recommend playing the song Videotape by Radiohead. Writing this scene, I was actually listening to this song and I just continued to play it over and over again until I finished the chapter. It's a GREAT song, but very sad. The only thing is that it is evident that the song is about suicide, but in a way, I guess that concept can be represented in this chapter by Greg kinda giving up and the death of his being… Okay, I can't believe I jut typed that… Okay I just gotta stop typing or I'm gonna cry again! :,(

I would also kinda like to know if you think I was ever being too over the top or I pushed a limit or something.

So yeah… chapter 16.

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**Chapter 16: The Puppet Master **

Time didn't exist. Even if it did, it seemed too troublesome of a concept to try to understand. Seconds had mutilated themselves into hours and days felt like months. Trying to figure out how long he had been trapped in the trunk of the car to suffering through this entire ordeal, it would all just be a waste of effort. At this point, time wasn't anything that he could waste anymore; he could only hope that it would pass. The time that had passed though, he felt like he had aged ten years. His bound, beaten, and broken body was now at a point where he felt it was beyond the will to even attempt to repair what he could. Everything he had felt at this moment, it was nothing, as Greg had felt nothing.

The torment that he was suffering through, it just made the countless sense of time that much more unbearable. As much as he wanted to relieve himself from everything, there was nothing that he could do but wait, wait for the moment, but he didn't know if it would ever come. Hope was another concept that was shattered, as Greg found that it never offered him anything, it only let him down. With his defeated spirit, he didn't need to waste what shrivels remained of his being on pathetic wishes that would never come true. In his state of despair though, he wasn't able to recognize that without hope to hold to, he was doomed to remain stuck in his tortured mentality.

Trapped in a trunk with nothing other then his memories, his mind was strictly guided by the remembrance of every single aspect of each torturous ordeal that he had suffered through, each memory more vivid and disturbing then the last. The one that he could absolutely not remove from his mind though was what Calvin had done to him no more then what seemed like a few minutes ago; the agony was still that fresh in his mind.

_The stare of sadistic rapture that Calvin held upon him, it was a look that was pierced into his mind, a look that he will never forget. Calvin scrutinized him, evoking the core of his emotional being, a fragile creature, and contorted him into disgusting vermin. To Calvin, he was nothing more then that; a vile, worthless nothing. He was a perfect victim, an experiment to observe, a superb specimen to destroy. _

_When it started, the only thing that he could do was plead, and beg; consciously demean him self. It was futile though, regardless if he knew it or not, but he couldn't bring him self to stop begging, as it was controlled by his sense of desperation for this merciless performance to end. But his pleading, it only inspired. _

_It was as if the more he begged, the more it would get Calvin off. Screaming was his next resort, but Calvin could care less if he would scream or not. It only provided his dominator with the same glorious power over his shattering spirit. It represented his desperation, a verbal release of agony, and it was simply too beautiful to inhibit. _

_With his agony falling on deaf ears, the frustration with being treated as if he was never heard, desperation still manipulating his voice, his cries grew louder. As his cries grew though, they began to reach such a range that he was approaching a point where his voice simply wouldn't be able to take the strain that he was putting against them for much longer. Given the freedom to express his anguish, he carried out his desperate cries for as long has his vocal cords would allow it, before he was finally silenced. _

_It was worse then being gagged; a method used to intentionally render his speech. His ability to speak, it was completely obliterated. When his vocal cords finally gave out, it was then that he was forced to feel everything. With his voice simply gone, he had to fully give in to Calvin's inhumane wrath against him without any means to exploit his suffering. He tried and tried to scream, an attempt to release something, anything, but it did nothing. His throat was raw and useless; damaged, with a metallic flavor to it. _

_There was nothing that he felt he could do except to give in and take it. Stripped of his voice, his fight, and most of his dignity, he figured that it was all he could do. Putting him self in this mind set though, he despised it almost as much as he despised Calvin, as it only made him feel more vulnerable to everything that he was feeling. Every fiber of his being was getting ripped to shreds with every invading thrust, but he could also feel every other form of physical distress throughout his body. There was an undeniably uncomfortable pressure against his pelvic bone as it continued to roughly grind against the concrete floor and it had also left a couple coarse scrapes against his skin; his knees were also forced to endure the same painful discomfort._

_From the corner of his eye, he could also see a few small streaks of blood along the concrete and it was then that he became aware of the stinging in his left cheek; he knew what it was from. There was a brief second before Calvin entered him when he fought against him with his hands. It was a failed effort, as expected, but Calvin had then completely restricted his arms. Taking a grasp on his forearm, Calvin forced his wrist upward along his back as far as the zip-tie would allow his wrists to go. In the position that his hands were in, the zip-tie had viciously dug into his wrists cutting off the circulation and it also forced his upper body to remain firmly placed against the cold concrete. It was because of this, that it was hard for him to lift his head up off the ground, so every time that Calvin had thrust into him, his cheek was forced to scrape against the concrete, and eventually, as the skin was rubbed raw, it began to bleed. _

_Another conformation with his experience of distress, it finally began to dawn on him that even helplessness was a word that was an understatement when it came to labeling just how he felt. The pain, the agony… the feeling, he wanted everything just to end. It had completely overwhelmed him, which had then led him into his moment within of utter weakness. For the first time, he looked into the camera lens and allowed the pixels to capture his broken being._

_They were the words of reality that Calvin had reminded him of before his performance began. It was in the back of his mind the whole time, the knowledge that Nick and Catherine were watching what was happening to him. The degrading sense of this reality, his will shattered and helpless to stop it himself, he looked to the representation of their presences with broken eyes that pleaded for them to stop this, to stop Calvin. At this moment, he couldn't care less if he died; all he wanted was for to Calvin to stop. But he didn't… he wouldn't… not until he was… finished. _

_Dignity was a concept that was hanging onto his being by a thread, and he knew the moment when it had abandoned him. That moment was when Calvin finally finished. The motion was vile and shameful. Strong hands had grabbed his hips, fingertips gripped onto his skin, and nails dug into his flesh as his assault persistently became stronger then ever, thrusting as hard as a punch to his stomach was. When it happened though… everything was still; soul finally vanquished. But the broken being, the empty flesh, it wasn't enough for Calvin. Nothing ever was. He still wasn't done yet._

_With his sticky, grabby hands, Calvin reached down and lifted him up off the ground by his shoulders. Once he was sitting up, with his legs tucked under him, one of Calvin's arms wrapped around his body, his hand running along __his toned and beaten chest. Then with his other hand, Calvin slowly ran his it against his leg, but he then slowly began to move inward. Sandpaper for skin, he caressed the sensitive skin of his inner thigh, and he did this right before his hand clasped tightly around his dick._

_Tears instantly rolled down his cheeks once he felt this. Why couldn't the sexual assault just be enough? Why did he have to touch him, molest him? But with his dignity shattered and traumatized, he felt as if there was nothing that he could do, expect wait for the time to pass. _

_Calvin's thumb then started to stroke it as a moan fell into his hot breath which then slithered down his own ear as Calvin turned to him and said, "Thinking about it… I should make you do me now," he hissed with a malicious grin as he squeezed his dick in his hand. _

_Control was Calvin's forte, and his being, it belonged to Calvin. From the mere tears continuously falling from his lifeless eyes to the elaborate destruction of his empty soul, they were all effects caused by Calvin. At this point, there was nothing that Calvin conjured up in his disgusting mind that could surprise him anymore; what would surprise him would be if Calvin didn't make him do that. If Calvin wanted something done or to go his way, it was becoming evident to him that Calvin would make it happen. All Calvin would have to do is merely pull the strings, and he would dance for him, just like a puppet, controlled by his Master._

"_How do you like that idea?" Calvin then asked him with a voice of innocent play as he played with his play thing. _

_The hand had finally removed its self from his broken chest, but Calvin was only moving it. The same grabby hand began to caress the sweaty skin on his neck and then his fingers began to maneuver their way through his hair's thick locks. Then, as he had anticipated it, the strong hand ripped back his head; an action that resulted in leaving his naked neck completely exposed. He then felt lips placed upon his flesh that began to tenderly caress the nap of his neck. It was a slow, disgusting sensation, but he could then feel a warm slime trailing up his neck; it was Calvin's tongue. He stopped licking him though once he reached his ear, but he then started to bite his ear lobe while hot breath lingered down his ear drum. _

_Weakness exposed, there was no point in holding on to his strength when it simply didn't exist. Letting out a pathetic whimper to compliment his disgust for Calvin's idea, he answered him by shaking his head no._

"_I'm sorry Greg, but I couldn't hear you. Could you please use your words," Calvin then teased once again with a wicked grin plaster across his face. _

_Tears refused to stop falling down his cheeks and they continued to fall as he was asked this question with a thick mockery in Calvin's voice. But knowing Calvin's rules and having learned to abide them, he didn't ignore Calvin, he didn't lie, and he used his words to answer his question. _

"_Pl…ea…se…, no," he barely managed to get out even as he put forth his utmost effort to. Hearing what he could of his voice though, it broke him to hear what remained of it. It felt to him as if it was now a permanent restriction. Seconds of expressing his agony was now potentially a life time curse, but it was nothing compared to the emotional anguish that he would bare with him for what remained of his miserable existence._

_Calvin would always be there to remind him of that, whether it would be in his conscience, in a distant mockery, or face-to-face, with cold eye's piercing even his empty soul. With Calvin's hand still weaved in between the threads of his hair, his head was forced to turn and stare into these very menacing depth as his Master offered his final question. "Is It done?" he calmly questioned, with his voice holding a defining meaning of non-existence behind one word._

_And he knew what that word was, what It was, and what it represented. "Ye…s," the figment of what Greg once was answered with a broken voice, a shamed soul, and an empty being. _

_Without another word, Calvin released his roots, stood up and left him and his lifeless figure to remain in the basement as he and Mark made their way toward the stair case. But before they walked upstairs, with the camera still fixed upon him, Calvin said with a cruel voice of sadistic pleasure, "And that, is what you could have prevented."_

_Then finally, that little red light turned off. He hoped that this was the last time that he would ever have to see that camera, but then again, he hoped that Calvin wouldn't rape him. Hope wasn't anything that existed anymore then he did, so why hold out for something that wasn't there. Why should he hold out hope for Nick and Catherine? They were looking for something that merely didn't exist. _

Everything about that moment would never resist from haunting him. Even if he could move past these tormented memories, his violator would always possess a certain control over his mind. Greg bared a title with his empty spirit, labeled as Calvin's bitch, his toy; a mere play thing to offer the sick bastard entertainment. He was also at a point where no matter what Calvin said, just to prevent a confrontation with the man, he would do whatever he ordered him to do. There wasn't even a need to consider what Calvin would do if he ever disobeyed him as the mere thought of a punishment from him made his skin quiver.

There was one thing though that Greg did enjoy to some degree. Being locked away in the trunk, regardless of the fact that it was a prison, it was a place that kept him secure and away from Calvin and his scrutinizing eyes. Greg took comfort with being alone at this moment as he was still too emotionally distraught to hold his composure in front of the two sadistic bastards. With his broken body, tears would still push past his ducts at moments when he had confronted pain, and he knew that his kidnappers relished the sight of his hurt and discomfort. But over time, Greg began to realize that pain was something that could actually hold the potential to benefit him.

As time passed while he was locked in the trunk, Greg's arms would start to hurt him, but this was something that he was beginning to welcome. His arms that were still bound firmly behind his back was pulling and straining his shoulders with a single plastic zip-tie. Regardless of the simplicity of its appearance, it was without a doubt a useful form of restrain that had even given duct tape's sticky adhesive a run for its quality. When ever he would take his chance to reposition his arms, over time, they would casually begin to slack again, and because the plastic was so tightly secure around his wrists, that even with the slightest flex the tie would cut into a nerve around his tender wrist, causing a vicious pain. The only way to prevent this was to keep his arms perfectly straight which caused the strain in his shoulders, but it also help to at least keep the blood in his hands circulating to some degree. Though it was very discomforting, the moments when pain would present its self, it would give Greg a mental reprieve from the torturous memories and he was at least able to focus on something that he could mildly control.

The pain in his arms would also present its self when he tried to reposition his legs, and these were the moments when Greg didn't value the tenderness of his wrists. When he was dumped into the trunk, his legs were maneuvered into an awkward position which had originally ended up causing his legs to fall asleep rather quickly. The first time he tried to change positions in the trunk, he had a hard time moving his legs as they were tightly bound together and he didn't have some mean of flexibility with his knees as they were bound, as well as his ankles.

The blindfold was also starting to give him a head ache seeming that it had been tied so tightly around his head. The head ache was nothing in comparison to the ache in his burning throat though. The tape that was across his mouth was useless as he still figured that he probably wasn't able to mutter a single syllable due to that fact that his voice was just as raw as it was before. There was a brief moment when Greg considered trying to mutter something just to see if his voice could still make a sound, but he quickly resisted. Remembering how painful the realization was when he had completely lost his voice, it was unbearable, a moment he never wanted to relive. There was also the inner realization though that he was merely hoping that his vocal cords weren't permanently damaged, and he had abandoned hope, as it had abandoned him. Regardless of the fact if he could speak or not, his throat was still raw and ruined, and his throat was dry, which only accentuated the soreness of his throat that much further. But he knew what caused his dry throat though, and it was another variable that added to his agony.

Greg currently felt like his life had been reduced to the dictation of a grain of sand in an hourglass. Trapped in the trunk, surrounded by uncomfortable levels of heat, he had also come to the conclusion that they somewhere in the desert; the Nevada sun burning its rays against the tin hood. The thick humid air and lingering heat, it formed a rain of hot sweat that covered his body. The humidity though, it made the air dry. Having been trapped in the trunk since they left the house, how ever long ago that was, the oxygen in the confined space was beginning to wear thin, and he didn't know how much longer he would be able to survive with the drastically limited supply of air.

Confusion was also another evident factor that was contributing to Greg's mental anguish. The whole purpose or reason behind Calvin's desire to commit this vengeful act was still unknown to him; the only thing he could do was just got along for the ride. But even trapped in the trunk and taking this car ride, it still didn't make sense to him. Greg had taken to note that this was now the third time, if he remembered correctly, that he had felt the floor beneath him come to a halt. The car was also turned off, discontinuing the hum of the car engine, which made it so that the sound of a dialing phone could be heard.

With nothing else to do but ponder his curiosity, Greg once again listened to see if Calvin had reached the caller on the other end on the phone line. But just like the first two times, a conversation was never held. He figured that it was due to the possibility that the person on the other line just didn't answer the phone. As he was thinking about it though, it was strange to him when he considered why Calvin didn't just leave a voicemail for the person, or why he even had to stop the car in the first place just to make a phone call. Thinking about this, Greg then began to consider if there was a structure or routine to these phone calls, which made Greg consider if this was another crucial aspect in his kidnapping.

Lost in this thought, Greg was then pulled back into reality when he heard the familiar sound of keys rattling up against the ignition. With the first two phone calls that Calvin made, with the failed connections, he simply started up the car again and drove off into nothing. This was now the third unsuccessful phone call which meant that he would have to remain trapped in the boot of the car with the scarce levels of oxygen for how ever long yet again, until possibly Calvin finally connected with the person he had been calling, if he ever did make a connection with him.

Greg had absolutely no idea how long he had been in the trunk for, but it was starting to dawn on him that he had been in their long enough for breathing to now become a struggle for him. It was evidently due to the fact that oxygen was scarce and that he was completely surrounded by humid air. Greg then began to consider this notion that would either be completely beneficial to him, or it would put him in a world of hurt. There were two choices. A part of him was terrified to even consider what would happen to him if he were to act out in attempt to get his kidnappers attention, but the other part of him was desperate, desperate for the ability to breathe comfortably again

Stuck in thought, considering about what he should do, Greg then heard the roar of the engine and began to feel the floor beneath him moving again. At this moment, Greg realized that he had to make his decision now, and if he was going to help himself, now was the chance to do it. With desperation overpowering his obedience for being a passive coward, he started to kick what he thought was the back wall of the trunk to get his kidnappers attention.

It hadn't even been two seconds after he kicked the wall that the car was brought to an immediate halt. The sudden slam on the breaks though had roughly shook his body though, presenting the pain in his arms and other tender places causing a subtle groan to rub against his taped lips. The fact that they stopped though meant that they had heard him, which did fill Greg with some sense of relief. But what followed after, it had a totally different affect on him.

"What the fuck are you doing? Stop that," a cruel voice viciously snapped at him.

To the reply that he got, it simply made Greg frustrated. The consideration that he might have to stay in the trunk longer, it just presented him with a defeated sense. There was a brief second where he felt like he just wanted to cry, but he quickly dismissed that form of defeat. Greg figured that he shouldn't waste the shriveling remains of his energy on something to be mocked at, but instead do something that would at least offer the potential for his desperation to be heard. Regardless of Calvin's order, Greg once again kicked the back wall again and as well let out a desperate groan beneath the tape, one that he wanted to be heard.

There was silence this time; not a single syllable muttered by either of his captors. But no more then a second later, the ignition was turned off and Greg could then hear some rustling taking place in the front seat before he finally heard the sound of a car door opening.

A harsh wave of emotions attacked him as he heard this. Part of him, he didn't think he could ever be happier to have either of his kidnappers approaching him, as long as they opened the trunk and allowed that exhilarating wave of fresh air to engulf him so that he could comfortably breathe once again. But he was also terrified. Disobeying Calvin was something that he swore he would never do again, but he just did. Greg had no idea what Calvin would want to do to him to punish him for misbehaving, but a grim thought came to him and it was filtered by the knowledge of Calvin's sadistic mind and the fact that he loved torturous play.

In his mind, Greg had formulated what Calvin's potential punishment consisted of when he regarded the position that he was currently restrained in. Greg figured that if he was in Calvin's position and wanted to prevent his captive from kicking a wall or something, tying their wrists and ankles together for a simple yet extremely effective hogtie would be the best solution. But being in the position of the captive, this was the last thing that he wanted. The thick air with the thin layer of oxygen was already creating enough of a struggle for him when it came to breathing, so being hogtied, it would only further restrict his breathing. He would be putting a vicious strain on his lungs and the lack of oxygen could then increase his risk for falling unconscious which could then lead to the possibility that he could die.

Greg came to these conclusions all with a car door opening, and as the footsteps got closer and closer to him, his heart rate began to increase as he anticipated the reality that would attack him as soon as his captor opened the trunk.

Regardless of the blindfold, he could still see the sun filter into the trunk through the small slights under his eyes, but the sunlight was nothing worth noting compared to the fresh wave of oxygen that he had waited for. His focus was solely focused on breathing, making sure he got enough before his kidnapper unleashed his punishing attack against him that he was painfully anticipating.

In the midst of savoring the air though, Greg was startled when he felt either a burning hot or a freezing cold liquid thrown across his body and head. Greg began to panic, unable to identify the sensation that had covered his body but as a voice spoke, his attention was broken from the refreshing torment of the liquid.

"Drink this," a voice that seemed to belong to Calvin absently instructed. "I don't need you dying off schedule now," he then added as he smoothly removed the tape from his lips.

At first, Greg didn't know whether or not to trust Calvin. He wanted to ask him what he was going to drink, but he couldn't, and he couldn't see a thing. There was absolutely no way of knowing if the liquid being offered at his lips was something that was as innocent as water or as toxic and lethal as gasoline or bleach. Thinking about the last time he had something to drink though and the intrigue of something to quench his thirsty and dry mouth, the contents to be poured down his throat seemed every bit more intriguing. Taking to mind was Calvin said as well, that he wasn't going to kill him, at least not yet, Greg hesitantly opened him mouth.

As the rim of the bottle was pressed to his mouth, and the second the liquid touched his lips, it was as if ecstasy had engulfed him. Letting out a desirable moan, Greg greedily took several gulps of the vitalizing liquid as it ran down his dry, raw throat. Never had he savored water so much before nor appreciated it. Every drop of that cool chill, it was one of the greatest sensations that he had ever had in his life. But, before he felt fully satisfied, the bottle was stolen from him. As a reaction, his desperate need to continue to fulfill his need for the liquid, he chased the air, hoping to find it. But as he heard the sound of tape being ripped from it roll once again, Greg dispersed into the depths of the trunk as he tried to escape the silencer. Regardless of his pathetic efforts though, the sticky adhesive still managed to connect with his lips, followed by a second strip.

It was as if Calvin assisting to his miserable needs was nothing more then an act of taking care of a pet, or a dying rodent that was found on the side of the road. After tossing the tape back into the trunk, without another word said, there was once again a fresh wave of air followed by a heavy slam near his head before everything went dark beneath the miniscule slits of his blindfold. The air around him was silent and stuffy once again. Then with the sound of a car starting, the floor began to move and Greg was left to lie helplessly in the trunk until the phone call was a success, and not even Calvin knew when that moment would be.

* * *

So what did you think? I am REALLY curious… like did I push a limit or anything?

Now to thanking my readers:

Thank you shellygirl34 for adding my story to your favorite list.

Thank you CrazyLeex, AngstWhore69, The Walking Chill Pill, JodsRaine, and VisionX23 for reviewing my story. Your reviews are Awesome Sauce :D!

And I also wanna thank you all my readers and stuff, as I have now reached over 10,000 hits :D! I just think that is absolutely insane and I wanna thank everyone so much!

So yeah... Till next chapter, adios!


	17. New Leads

So… another chapter that took a while. Sorry guys but life the past month has just been happening. With finishing up school and GRADUATING (WOO HOO!) that was a time consumer as well as a couple family functions. THEN I had to get foot surgery! And yeah, the first weeks recovery… it has kinda sucked but I am getting better. But seeming that I will be on bed rest for 6 WEEKS… which sucks because it is the summer… but it will also leave me a ton of time to write :D! So updates could and should become more regular :D! So be sure to look out for updates and such!

Anyway… here is chapter 17. Also, there is information below for if you guys are interested in a timeline thing for this story so you can read about that below!

* * *

**Chapter 17****: New Leads**

The car ride consisted of silence, not a single word muttered between Nick and Catherine. Nick was preoccupied by the clock though, his mind constantly counting the minutes that rapidly passed in their painfully slow pace. Every minute was simply mocking him, in the back of his mind reminding him that Greg had been missing for now 14 hours and 43 minutes, and now he has been missing 14 hours and 44 minutes, and now 14 hours and 45 minutes. Time seemed to contradict its self, never going faster then it had been and yet it was as if he was living in slow motion with time merely changing.

"So, what do you want to take care of?" Catherine asked out of the blue.

It was then that Nick had noticed that they were back at the lab. Looking at the clock once again and actually understanding what the time had said verses reading it as if it were a countdown, Nick realized that it had only taken them about 20 minutes to get back home thanks to the police escort. Returning his thoughts toward Catherine's question, he simply returned the courtesy of her question to her. "Well what do you want to do?"

Catherine knew what needed to be taken care of, but there was one thing that she wanted to clear out of the way first. "Regarding the evidence, I don't care what I process, as long as it gets done. But Lauryn Miller, she needs to be further questioned."

With Catherine mentioning this, Nick already knew who this task would be guided toward. "We both know that you'll be questioning her. Like you would even consider allowing me to sit in the same room with her right now," Nick reasoned with a sarcastic expression in his voice.

"So you'll be fine with getting the evidence where it needs to be?" Catherine asked once again, confirming the fact that Nick was fine with taking over the heavy work load.

"Yeah it's fine," Nick replied. With the silence that had filled the car as they were returning to the lab, Nick had also thought about the recent irrational explosion that he had released upon Lauryn. He had come to the conclusion that he was rather out of line and wanted to apologize to the girl, but he still didn't feel that he was in a stable position with his emotions to confront her at the moment. "I'd be fine with talking to her, but I'd rather not. I'd rather just take care of the evidence," Nick once again confirmed with a somber tone.

Knowing where their tasks lied, Nick and Catherine set about their business. Lauryn Miller had approached Catherine and the two of them headed out of the parking garage and up to her office to continue the questioning in a quiet and secluded place. Nick on the other hand went to the back of his Tahoe, and with four Officers assisting him, grabbed all the evidence that was packed away in the back of his car; the evidence from the basement, the crates of a stalker's paraphernalia, and the package that sat in the backseat.

When Nick had entered the crime lab, he Nick began by taking all the evidence into the layout room as he figured that this would be the best place to organize all the evidence. The crates filled with the pictures and documentation immediately went off to the side as it seemed too massive of a project its self that now wasn't the time to tackle it. The rest of the evidence went into piles, which he had been mentally labeling them based off of the lab that they needed to be taken to be processed and analyzed. Everything was basically going to DNA except for a sample of vomit that he was going to take to Henry Andrews, the labs toxicologist, so that he could identify if there was a possibility that Greg could have been drugged to cause him to regurgitate. The package was the last thing that needed to be taken care of, but he decided to wait to process this with Catherine as he knew it was addressed to the two of them.

With the evidence in hands, Nick then took the items to their desired labs. Quickly stopping off at Henry's lab, he merely handed the sample of vomit to the toxicologist to which Henry replied that this would be his top priority, which Nick had appreciated. He then headed down to Wendy in DNA.

Walking into the DNA lab, never had Nick been swarmed with an attack of memories from the times when Greg was a lab-rat. Remembering his bold antics and free-spirited behavior, they led to unforgettable moments and memories. At this moment though, these memories were filled with a sense of morn, as if he was remembering them to keep the spirit alive so to replace the empty atmosphere. This was a murky feeling that he never wanted to relive. Memories, such as the ones from when Greg was back in the lab, they were to be told and laughed over when reminisced, not to stare at in grief.

The attack on his conscience had already affected his mood, and seeing Wendy's cheerful smile, it just looked plastic and fake to him. Cheery happiness seemed like an emotion that was over-rated and one that shouldn't exist during this time.

"Hey Nick," Wendy started off greeting him, but as soon as she saw his heavy eyes and his drained expression, she figured that he perky attitude probably wasn't the most welcoming thing for Nick to be greeted with. With her smile dropping and a hesitant voice, she asked him, "So how is the case coming?"

Without making eye contact, Nick blandly said as he dropped the pile of evidence on the counter, "I'll let the evidence tell you that."

Wendy just merely nodded her head. With Nick's brute nature, she instantly picked up on his vibe and knew that he wanted nothing more then to just have the evidence processed. "Well what do you need me to process?"

"Everything that is on this table," he answered. "All this stuff here is from Calvin Richards' basement. Run everything against Greg first and if there isn't a match, then run it against the unknown blood found from the initial crime scene where Greg was taken. I want you to run the blood first and as soon as you get a hit, let me know alright. There is also vomit, a rag with blood and saliva, a blow torch with burnt skin fragments, and there is also some semen so check to see who that belongs to. What ever you don't get a hit on, as I am sure you assumed, run it through CODIS."

Wendy was already overwhelmed, not by the amount of evidence that she received, but what it had consisted of. Her mind stuck in a state of shock, she simply replied, "Alright Nick."

With her conformation of understanding, Nick then turned to leave the DNA lab, but before he left, he reminded Wendy once again, "And don't forget to page us when you get the results on the blood."

Seeing that he was just out the door, Wendy quickly stopped him. "Wait Nick," she called back to him. As he turned his attention back to her, she then issued her question. "So the blood, you said that you found it in Calvin Richard's basement?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yes," Nick said in response.

"And you want me to run that blood against Greg," Wendy further questioned, once again wanting a confirmation for her perplexity.

Nick was now getting irritated, thinking that when he had explained everything, it was clear and easy to understand. "Yes Wendy," he said in an irritable tone.

With what Nick had asked of her as he walked into her lab with his brash nature and bitter attitude, she had completely understood his requests regarding the evidence, but it was just that that had so severely put her in a state of confusion. With what Nick had asked of her, they led to assumptions that seemed unimaginable, something that just couldn't be possible, and something that she didn't want to discover. With yet another blunt remark from Nick, she had a feeling that her assumptions would end up being true. "Nick, I know that you have established the Donnar's innocence, so is Calvin Richards now a suspect?"

Nick sighed, frustrated by the reality continuing to sink into his conscience. "We have a very strong reason to believe that Richards…" Nick started to say, but stopped as he still found the reality of the situation to be just completely unbelievable that he couldn't even speak the words of it. "This evidence is going to tell us if Greg was in his basement," he finally resorted to saying so that he didn't have to admit the truth aloud.

"But when was Greg in Richards' basement? I mean, I though you guys questioned Richards' in his home?" Wendy reasoned, her mind finding a mean to justify her confusion.

With her question that was mocking him once again, reminding him of what had happened, Nick became overwhelmed with frustration that he finally snapped and once again unleashed his anger upon another innocent woman that day. "Wendy, Richards kidnapped Greg, alright!" Nick viciously snapped at her. "Greg was in that basement the whole god damn time and that includes when we were in Richards' house! I don't need to be answering your stupid questions right now so just process the damn evidence alright!"

Wendy was taken back by Nick's out burst at her as this was a side of Nick she had never scene before. She wasn't intimidated by him but she knew that Nick wanted nothing more at the moment then to have the evidence processed and to be left alone. "I'll get right on it Nick. You evidence is my top priority," she calmly told him.

"Just page me when you get the blood results," he ordered and then stormed out of the DNA lab.

* * *

"I would really like to thank you for offering to come back to the station with us Lauryn," Catherine said, announcing her gratitude to the young woman as she took a seat across from her desk.

"Well I'm not sure if what I have to offer will be useful, but as I said before, I just want to help," Lauryn said.

"And we truly appreciate that. I don't want to sound desperate, but you seem like a true and genuine witness and right now, we'll take anything if it's going to help us find our guy."

Lauryn was intrigued by Catherine's word choice with what she said; that she was desperate to find her guy. To Lauryn, it sounded like she had a personal relationship with this guy, but she figured that now wasn't the moment to ask her a question that was this personal. "Once again, I hope what I can offer will be helpful enough," she said with a genuine smile.

"How long have you known Calvin Richards," Catherine started off by asking.

"Since we moved into the neighborhood in 1992, so about 18 years I guess. My parents bought the house just as it was built and I've lived there ever since I was four."

"So do you live with your parents?" Catherine asked, merely curious to the fact that Lauryn lived in her childhood home, but it seemed that she was living on her own.

"My parents actually moved out of the neighborhood. I guess living near Vegas for most of your life you're bound to eventually hit a jackpot. About three years ago, I don't know how it happened but my parents kinda hit a lucky streak and in the course of about a month, they were 7 million dollar's richer. They retired and have just been traveling. Since they had payed off the house, so they own it, I was just able to continue living here which is really nice because I attend the University so it's not too out of my way."

Catherine had smiled at Lauryn's story. Not only did it offer a little bit of a background on her but the real charm was the story about her parents. To her, it just seemed like one of those true Vegas fairytales. Continuing with the questioning though, she then asked, "So when did Richards move in?"

"At the same time, when the houses were built in '92," Lauryn answered.

"So you have pretty much known Richards your whole life then?"

"I have known who he is, but as far as knowing him personally, I kinda do but I kinda don't," she explained.

Catherine wasn't really sure what to make of her response. "Let me ask you this, from what you know about Calvin, do you believe that he would be the type of person to kidnap someone?"

Lauryn was silent for a second, thinking about how to answer Catherine's question. "When I realized that it was a person that Calvin was dragging to the trunk of his car, I honestly couldn't believe it, that he would do that to someone. But I'm not surprised to find out that he did."

"Why's that?" Catherine curiously asked.

"Growing up in that neighborhood, it was kind of like a small town type neighborhood. Everyone knew everyone and we were all really close, kids would have sleepovers every weekend and moms would play bunko and dads would go golfing. We would also have barbeques in the cul-de-sacs. Calvin was always a warm and welcoming person, very easy to get along with, same with his brother, Aaron. As time passed though, families moved and the kids grew up, and the neighborhood, just its spirit became rundown. My parents were still really close with Calvin though, but, I remember it was the summer of 2004, and that was when Calvin changed. I remember because it was my 16th birthday and we had to postpone it because earlier that day, Aaron was arrested."

"Do you know why?"

"Not really, but I do remember Calvin coming over to my house one night and I remember that he kept telling my parents that Aaron was innocent," Lauryn explained as she reminisced upon this memory.

"Where's Aaron now?"

"He passed away."

Catherine closed her eyes when she heard this as she was frustrated for it felt like there was another open door to a lead, and then it was slammed shut in her face. After a deep breath though, she continued wither her questioning. "By any chance do you know how he died?"

"I don't know details, but I know he died in prison two weeks after his trial though, or at least that's what I remember over hearing from my parents 5 years ago."

Catherine's eyes lit up when Lauryn said this. It had dawned on her that Aaron's arrest was serious and that there was a trial and everything, which meant that there was a case file. And with hearing that there was a death in prison, there would have also been an investigation on that. Aaron Richards was now their first lead and connection that they had to Calvin. With now a new area to explore, Catherine's spirit had lifted for the first time since Greg had been kidnapped.

"It's alright that you don't have any details," Catherin firstly assured Lauryn. "Seeming that you mentioned that the death was in prison there will most definitely be a case file in it. I am curious though; how did Calvin take to Aaron's death?"

Regardless of the optimism that she held in her spirit, Lauryn's discerning nature that she had presented within her self to Catherine's question brought her own mood down a little as well. It was evident to Lauryn that she had now hit a point in Calvin's life where his once kind nature started to mutilate into the being that he is now.

Lauryn sat there silently for a moment, thinking about where to begin when it came to explaining exactly how Calvin took his brother's death. "When Aaron died, I seriously think that it's an understatement to say that Calvin changed. Right after Aaron died, he wouldn't leave his house and he spent weeks mourning his brother's death. He then developed a very isolated nature as he was distant and awkward around people; anti-social really. When he started to leave his house, I noticed that he was normally wearing dark clothes and he always had a camera with him. He then took a job at a drug store working in the photo department. Honestly, I kinda thought that he was stalking someone."

What Lauryn was explaining, especially with the whole stalker thing, it was evident to Catherine that this was Calvin's life changing moment. Then with the whole stalker thing, based on the pictures and documentation that they found in his basement, Lauryn's assumption seemed plausible. What also had spiked Catherine's intrigue was the fact that Aaron's death happened in 2004, and she remembered seeing a file labeled 2004. In small doses, it seemed that facts were starting to come together, and Catherine began to ponder if Calvin's intentions behind kidnapping Greg had something to do with this.

"Is there anything else that made you think Calvin was stalking someone?" Catherine then asked, now wanting all the justifiable reasoning for means behind Calvin's kidnapping act.

"I remember that it wasn't till mid-January this year, so almost a year ago, that he finally started talking to people again. He even invited the neighborhood over for a dinner occasion thing, but I remember that one person almost walked into this one room thinking it was a bathroom I guess, but Calvin full blown freaked out. He was practically screaming at her not to go anywhere near that door ever again, and the same went for everyone else. Then when someone asked him what was in there he simply said that it was a storage closet. I highly doubt that if it was just a storage closet that he would have freaked out as much as he did, or even if it was, then he had to of been hiding something."

"Do you remember where the room was?"

"As soon as you walk in his house, there is a short hallway right in front of you that will lead you into his living. In that hallway, there is a door on your left and that is the room that he freaked out over so you guy's might want to check it out if you haven't already."

Lauryn's assumption had obviously been correct but as protocol reminded her, Catherine wasn't allowed to release any information regarding evidence that was collected. "We'll be sure to take that tip of yours into consideration. Thank you," Catherine simply stated expressing her gratitude.

At this moment, to Lauryn, it seemed to her as if the questioning was over as there was now silence between them. Feeling that she had now formed a common ground with Catherine, Lauryn decided to venture out and ask her a personal question. "Catherine, if you don't mind me asking, I was wondering if you could tell me why Nick had attacked me the way that he did back at my house. I mean, I thought it was obvious that he sounded as if he was accusing me."

Lauryn's question, it was tricky for Catherine to answer. Once again, having to mind protocol, she couldn't release any information regarding what had taken place with Calvin, which was a problem seeming that Nick's accusations against her were result of the events regarding Calvin. "As I am sure you caught on to this, but Nick was convinced that you were working with Calvin. Due to event that have taken place, events that I can not release information about, they had seriously affected Nick on an emotional level, and Nick is one of those people who will let his emotions get the better of him. Because of what happened, he didn't want it to happen again, so instead of being blindly tricked, he decided to blindly attack."

"When you say blindly attacked, you mean that he accused me without anything to back it up, or to guide him," Lauryn stated, explaining her interpretation by what Catherine meant.

Catherine firstly responded by nodding her head to answer her question. "You said it your self back at your house, Nick was accusing you before he even knew your story."

"But he also said that I didn't know his story either," Lauryn then reminded Catherine. "What did he mean by that?"

Catherine knew what Nick meant by it, but once again she didn't know how to explain it to Lauryn without giving away information that she simply couldn't.

Seeing Catherine trying to formulate an answer for her, there was another personal question that Lauryn wanted to ask, and she figured that it could be a key part into understanding what Nick's story was. "I have one more personal question that I would like to ask," she stated. Saying this, Catherine looked up at her and as he met her eyes, Lauryn asked, "Do you have a personal relationship with the guy Calvin kidnapped?"

Catherine was once again silent. This question brought her back to her memory at Calvin's house when they were questioning him. Calvin had asked the same question and she hated that of all people, she had pronounced her relationship that she did have with Greg to him, when he obviously already knew about it. She realized that it was just another sick game that he had played with her. What was different with Lauryn though was that Catherine felt like she could genuinely trust her, but regardless, she was having a difficult time deciding whether or not to place her emotions in a vulnerable position again. But then again, as Lauryn had so kindly answered her questions without a problem, she decided that she should do the same for Lauryn. "Yes," she firstly stated. "Nick and I have worked with him for 10 years and he's a very close friend of ours as well."

As Lauryn had anticipated correctly, there was a personal relationship that both Catherine and Nick had with the missing man. Hearing this though, Lauryn felt as if Nick's actions from earlier were more justifiable and understandable. "I'm taken that's a reason why Nick was upset that I didn't do more to save him I guess."

"If anyone you care about is in a threatening situation, it's like your always trying to find someone to blame for what happened. I know Nick attacked you because he was upset that, in his eyes, you didn't do all that you could do to save him. But I think another factor was just the realization of everything. We had found a few disturbing things when we were searching Calvin's home and I think Nick is still beating himself up for not doing more to try to save Greg. It's just with everything; he is constantly thinking that if he did this or tried harder to save him or something, that this whole thing could have all been avoided. I just think that right now he is walking around with a heavy conscience on his shoulders and it's putting a hell of a lot of pressure on him. Unfortunately, he ended up releasing some of that pressure on you and it came across as hostile and brute. But that is what happens with Nick when he allows his emotions to get the better of him."

"I honestly don't blame him as much anymore, for attacking me. I can be pretty hot-headed at times too, so thinking about it, if I was in his position, I probably would have done something similar."

"He still shouldn't have attacked you like he did though Lauryn; it was unprofessional and completely irrational," she commented, still disappointed by Nick's actions.

"Regardless, I'm not as upset about it anymore. I'm an understanding person and I don't hold grudges," she said with a reassuring grin. Holding true to her forgiving nature though, Lauryn also added, "I would actually like to apologize to him."

Catherine looked up at Lauryn and was actually surprised to hear this. Here was a girl who was attacked by Nick's fierce and harsh emotions, and to hear that she wanted to apologize to him, she was shocked. It did fill her heart with happiness though to see that she was mature enough to be the adult and confront Nick, and she figured that this would also influence Nick to offer the same means to make amends with the girl that he so poorly treated.

In the midst of her thought though, from the corner of her eye she saw Nick heading toward her office. "Well Lauryn, I think you're gonna have your chance to do that right now," Catherine pointed out as Nick began to open the door to her office.

As Nick walked into the room, he was still a bit hot-headed from his small altercation that he had with Wendy, but excusing it for the time being as he acknowledged the two women in the room like a gentlemen. "Hey Catherine, Miss Miller, I was wondering if you were finished with questioning our witness?"

"Yes, we're finished here. Lauryn was really helpful," Catherine commented giving praise to he helpful girl, for the help that she gave was greatly appreciated. "Lauryn also said that she had something that she would like to say to you Nick," she then announced. It was her clever method to give Nick confidence that with what Lauryn was saying, it was genuine. She had implied that Lauryn was of a great and helpful service and she was then nicely able to transition into the fact that Lauryn was a thoughtful girl who genuinely wanted to make amends.

Lauryn had caught on to the fact that this was her cue to give her apology, but as he turned to look at Nick, she did feel slightly intimidated like she had before. There was a murky glare in his eyes and a dull look of amusement which made her think that what ever she had to say to him, it would be a waste of breath. Regardless though, after she took a deep relaxing breath, she confronted Nick with what she wanted to say to him. "I want to apologize for some of the things that I said back at my house to you. I don't think it was my place to say some of the things that I had said and I truly am sorry."

Nick was shocked to hear this from her. He figured that if there was anyone that needed to apologize, it was him, but he admired the fact that she had done that. "Thank you," he simply replied. There was softness had appeared in his eyes and finally, the harsh spirit within him began to disappear. It was now his turn to offer his amends. "I think I need to apologize as well, as I was wrong to of accused you when I wasn't in any place to. I also want to thank you as well for all the help that you have given us."

Catherine was happy to see that at least one issue had been resolved that day as it seemed that nothing else had gone right. This was also an issue that Nick had presented upon him self and it had without a doubt affected him, but to have this problem out of the way, he could then return he focus to other important things.

"Well Lauryn, I also want to thank you again as well for all the help that you have offered us today and I really hope that some of the information that you have provided for us will be helpful in our investigation," Catherine once again said, expressing her gratitude.

"Of course, and I hope that it helps as well," she said. But there was one last service that she wanted to offer, once again further offering to assist the CSI's. "And if you guys need me to, I could just hang out around her for a while, just in case you have any more questions that you want to ask me," she kindly offered.

At this point, Catherine didn't know how she could express any further gratitude to Lauryn. With everything that she had already helped them with and still proceeded to offer her services, she beyond appreciated it. To find someone like her, it was extraordinarily rare to see in the crime lab. Usually, she would have to deal with stubborn witnesses and screaming suspect and constant demands for lawyers left and right. Like all the times before, all Catherine could simply offer was, "Thank you."

Nick was as well surprised once again by her willingness to accommodate and help them. A weak smile finally spread across his lips for the first time in what felt like ages, and it was a grin of complete thanks and gratitude. Then, as he began to follow Catherine out of her office, he turned back to her, and once again said, "Thank you," for the first time with a truly genuine nature.

* * *

As Nick and Catherine walked back into the layout room, Catherine noticed how the crates of photos and documentation were at the opposite end of the table and then she saw the unopened package that was left at the Donnar's house at the end that her and Nick were standing at. What had intrigued yet concerned her about the package was that it wasn't open. "Nick, how come you didn't open the package? I mean there could be something in here that needed to be open right away."

Nick saw Catherine's reasoning behind potential importance for opening the package as soon as possible, so he simply explained to her why he didn't. "Well, the package, it's for us so I didn't want to open it without you being here."

Catherine understood why Nick didn't open it, and she was actually glad that he didn't. There was then a moment from earlier that she had remembered of and figured that she could use it to her advantage to hold onto their slightly optimistic moods. "Or is it so if there is a bomb you want me to be there with you so you can tell me that you told me so?" she laughed hoping to bring another smile to Nick's face.

Knowing exactly what Catherine was referencing to, back in the car when he was being irrational and considered a bomb being in the package, it did bring a smile to his face, and it even made him laugh. As he laughed, it was something that almost felt foreign to him, something that was a feeling that was almost forgotten. The feeling was superb though, something that he had missed.

Keeping to the atmosphere that was mildly light-hearted, he then announced his true regards for Lauryn Miller. "I have to admit, Lauryn, she really does seem like a genuine witness."

Catherine looked over at Nick and seeing that he was finally convinced that she was the real deal, it filled her somber heart with happiness. It was comforting to finally have someone of use on their side and she was happy to find that Nick saw her in the same way. "You know, talking to her, she was actually really helpful. She gave us a new lead regarding Calvin," Catherine informed.

Nick was surprised to hear this, not expecting to get a serious lead just from talking to Lauryn. "What kind of leads?"

"Well for one, Lauryn mentioned that she thinks that Calvin could have been a stalker, which would explain the pictures. He apparently always had a camera with him and he would normally wear darks clothes," Catherine explained first off.

"And what was the other lead?" Nick asked, wanting Catherine to continue supplying her source of information.

"Apparently Calvin had a brother," she said was a hidden grin, for she knew this was the lead that would most likely benefit them the most.

Nick failed to see her intention though as he replied, "Had a brother; well that's not going to do us much good."

"Actually," she announced in an I-beg-to-differ tone. "It just might. His name was Aaron Richards and he was arrested in the summer of 2004; he then apparently died in a prison fight."

The facts confirmed, Nick immediately saw the benefit of this situation. "If he did in prison, there is without a doubt a file on him. The fact that he was arrested there's a file on him. We'll need to look that up. Do you think that Aaron could have something to do with Calvin kidnapping Greg?"

"It's something that seems well worth looking it to," Catherine stated, agreeing with her colleague. "Right now though, we need to process this package," Catherin suggested as she began to put on a fresh pair of latex gloves.

Nick as well grabbed a pair of gloves and as he put them on, Catherine took a pair of scissors and began to slice the tape the enclosed the contents inside of the box. As Catherine was opening the package though, Nick's cell phone had vibrated and as he retrieved it from his pocket, he saw that it was a text from Wendy.

"It's no big surprise, but its proof. The blood in the basement came back as a match to Greg," Nick informed as he read the text message. It truly wasn't a surprise to either of them, especially with everything now falling into place and point at Calvin, it was a hard assumption to doubt and it would have been a surprise for them to find out that the blood didn't belong to Greg.

Turning their attention back to the package though, with the tape cut, they opened the two flaps and peered inside. There were two items that were enclosed inside of the box, and those items were Greg's cell phone and another disk which Nick and Catherine both despairingly assumed was a second video.

When Nick saw the flimsy CD disk, his guts had tied them selves into vicious knots inside of his stomach. He was clueless as to when the video was made but it absolutely petrified him. From the time that he and Catherine left the house to the time that Calvin had left the house, it was really no more then an hour and a half. In that time, he was able to make a video tape, burn it to a disk, and then package it up to be dropped off at the Donnar's. If this was the case, the he would be watching a video with his inner conscience reminding him that if he followed his instinct, that he could have been able to prevent what ever was to take place on that video.

While Nick was just staring at the blank disk in its case, Catherine had picked up Greg's cell phone and opened it. It said that there had been three missed calls, and after Catherine checked, they were all from the same person, and at 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm, all right on the hour. "Nick, the same unknown number has been calling Greg's phone once every hour right on the hour. What time is it?"

Looking at his watch, he read the time aloud. "Its 3:45 right now. Do you think that they'll call at 4:00?" Nick questioned, hoping that this would be a routine that the unknown caller would be keeping to.

"I don't see why they wouldn't. We'll just keep processing the package until they call again," Catherine suggested.

So Catherine and Nick continued with processing the package. Catherine was dusting Greg's phone for fingerprints and Nick was checking the disk case was well. And after not even finding a partial, they continued with processing the box. Nick used the UV light to check for blood or spittle, or even left over remains from the semen found in the basement, but he found nothing. Catherine then checked the corners and creases for hairs or a substance, anything that could identify something or give a new lead, but like Nick, she couldn't find a thing.

With time ticking by fast, Nick checked his watch again to see how much longer that he and Catherine would have to wait for the next possible phone call. "Catherine, it 3:59; they should be calling any second now," Nick announced, his heart rate starting to increase.

They waited in silence, staring at the phone with their fingers crossed; they could only wait for the call, hoping that it would come.

As soon as Nick heard the first recognizable cord from that damn song Feel Like Makin' Love, before even the first word of the course could be sung, Nick had answered the phone. "Hello? Hello! Greg?" he frantically answered, hoping to god that Greg would be on the other end of the line.

But the voice on the other end of the line never returned the greeting, but Nick could hear breathing. Nick had once again questioned the silent presence on the other line, "Hello." All Nick heard after the second hello though was the familiar sound of a dial tone. "They hung up on me," he blandly said.

"Do you think it was Calvin?" Catherine questioned.

"I'm not sure," he said as he set the phone back down on the counter.

Another dead end presenting its self, Catherine left out a frustrated sigh. "Well, I think the only other thing to do right now is to take the disk to Archie," she suggested as she ran her fingers through her hair. Nick simply nodded his head and grabbed the disk in its case and then he and Catherine walked down the hall, returning to the A/V lab.

News in the lab travels fast around the lab, so it was no surprise that everyone had already known about Greg. Walking down the hall, eyes of pity stared at Nick and Catherine, especially now seeing the disk in Nick's hand. As said, news traveled fast, so it was no shock that they knew that Nick and Catherine had already been sent a video. Even the passing eyes looked at the disk as a second video, another torturous documentation.

"Hey Arch, Nick greeted as he and Catherine walked into the A/V lab.

Archie had swiveled around in his chair to meet their sight as he greeted them as well, "Sup Nick, how's the case go-ing." Archie's smile had as well dropped and his sentence broke when his eyes came into contact with the item in Nick's hands. Being the only other person in the lab that had seen the first video, he had the worst expectations for this one.

"We think… we think this is… a second video," Nick somberly stated with a heavy sign and broken eyes of terror, his mind already regretting what he was about to watch.

Without another word said, Nick handed the disk to Archie. Like before, he placed the disk into his computer and as a box popped up asking if it wanted to begin playing the video, Archie clicked the button yes with his mouse, but Nick had clicked the no button with his mind. It did nothing though as the video had begun, but this time, the screen wasn't black.

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So… chapter 17… what did you guys think?

A quick A/N: So last chapter, when the phone call was made, that was at 3:00 o'clock, which was right before Brass had put the package in Nick's car. I just wanted to clear that up and junk for you guys.

To my thanks to my readers:

For alerting, thank you to mizncis and Lanna-Nailo.

Thank you to mizncis, 69charpy, and Lanna-Nailo for favoriting.

And for reviewing, thank you to TopazMage, , Jennypen, Hmm, VisionX23, Daydreamer626, Lanna-Nailo, and WMG!

And finally… regarding the timeline. So sometimes in the past when I have read some fanfics and such, I have gotten confused with like the timeline. Like is this scene happening in the day or night or what time is it. Well to help myself, I made a story timeline where I'll take the large events from that chapter and I have given them a time of when it happened. This has been a method that has been really useful for me as the writer (as I know all my events are organized, make sense, and coincide with each other), but I also think it could benefit you, the readers, as well. So if you guys are interested, you can get a hold of me through either a review or a personal message and all you need to do is request the timeline and I'll be sure to send it to you. Anyways, if you guys want a meticulous and well thought out timeline of The Puppet Masters Game, let me know. (And the timeline will currently go up to chapter 17… as that is where we are at.)

So thanks for reading and everything… the whole kit-and-kaboodel… and farewell till chapter 18!


	18. Stockholm Syndrome?

Alright, so I don't really have any authors notes for you guys other then I hope you enjoy chapter 18 :D!

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**Chapter 18: ****Life's Worth: Everything or Nothing**

After having lived in Vegas for more then a decade, unbearable levels of heat was something that Greg had just become accustom to over the years. With the random heat waves that would attack the city, he had discovered ways of how to avoid Hell's miserable sensation. When Calvin opened the car, the chilling breeze of the hot Nevada air, it was one of the greatest exhilarations he had ever experienced. Then when he had received waters delicious, cold quench, it very well could have been the greatest feeling in the world. But as invigorating as these two brief moments were, they did nothing more then to make his suffering that much worse.

With the vitalizing sensation that had revived him for the time being, it reaped a negative affect later as it had begun to torment his mind with vicious mind games. His mind was constantly mocking his current predicament with the remembrance of when he received those two reprieves that his will of survival desperately craved now more then ever. The memories of this moment were so fresh in his mind but it seemed as if it had happened days ago, and every second that past was just as agonizing as the last, and he couldn't escape from it.

The heat he was consumed by before Calvin opened the trunk; it was nothing more then one of Vegas' 115° heat waves. Now, he felt like he was being burned alive in an oven. At this point, he would rather endure the second degree burns that he got from his lab explosion again if it meant he could escape from this torture chamber.

With the heat engulfing every cell in his body, the sweat that he was covered in, it practically gave the appearance that he had just taken a shower. The tape to his lips, the sweat had even weakened the adhesive and after rubbing his cheek along the carpet, it didn't take much effort to remove the tape all together from his mouth. Succeeding with this, Greg thought that now being able to breathe through his mouth once again, it would help him with being able to breathe better, but he was wrong. The humidity had attacked his raw throat and made his mouth feel 10 times dryer. Every inhale felt like needles stabbing his throat.

There was only one thing that Greg knew would offer him that reprieve from this hell and that weight of vital importance was placed upon a phone call. It had dawned on Greg that the phone calls seemed to have a routine to them so he could only lay there in misery and wait for the next phone call to be made. It was in the midst of this thought though when finally he felt the floor beneath him begin to decrease once again and Greg knew exactly what that meant.

There was only silence. Everything was still. The wheeze in his breathing was even reduced to nothing. There was nothing that was going to compromise his focus on listening to Calvin, listening to hear if the phone call was indeed a success.

There was silence, as Greg had assumed was due to Calvin waiting for the person on the other line to answer, but the silence was never broken; it eerily continued. Going through the motions, his anticipation for hope once again abandoning him, it had eventually triggered a diminishing reaction out of him. Greg's skin began to quiver with a viciously cold sweat and tears once again began to form in his wilted eyes. There was all of a sudden a disturbing air that had filled the atmosphere.

Death was beginning to approach his mind. The disgusting heat that surrounded him had disappeared leaving him lying there in a state of cold emptiness. The inevitable reality that he simply couldn't bare another second of breathing finally began to consume him. Everything was caving in on him, feeling as if his own life was finally beginning to whither away. But as he helplessly lay there, waiting for his life to simply fall into the nothing of non-existence, nothing happened. In utter agonizing frustration, he dropped his head to the ground and let out and angry bawl. He could feel the atmosphere around him growing smaller and smaller but his life didn't fall into the same pattern. It was then that he began to feel claustrophobic as he was consumed by his longing for non-existence, but it was being eaten alive by the actual feeling of self-abandonment. Greg was simply lost; lost from rationality, lost from hope, and most solemnly, lost from spirit.

A silver-lining had presented its self though. The silence outside of his prison had discontinued as Greg heard two car doors opening and then slam shut. Footsteps had then followed as they then began to make their way toward the trunk of the car. The thoughts of death had quickly escaped his mind has he realized that they were approaching him, for the memories of the cool wave of air was what he truly longed for more then anything at this moment.

But it didn't take much to destroy that silver-lining. As the footsteps approached the boot of the car, they just as easily walked past it as if it didn't even exist, as if he didn't even exist. Regardless of how much he despised his captors, he would do anything to be the insignificant scrutiny in their presence at this moment. Regardless of his hesitancy when it came to using his damaged voice, desperation guided his vocal cords as he weakly pleaded for them. "Cal-vin… plea-se… co-me ba-ck!" he brokenly cried. But it was an utterly useless attempt as Greg continued to hear the departure of their footsteps, before they finally disappeared all together.

Regardless of the isolation that he felt in the air moments ago, this form of silence, this was something that was totally different. Everything felt still, as if there was absolutely nothing around him. It was the feeling of complete abandonment.

This was Greg's first thought, that Calvin had actually abandoned him, which had instantly sent him into a fearful panic. But he knew that at this point, panicking was the last thing that he needed to do. If this was a life or death situation, regardless if Calvin really was abandoning him, allowing his panic to take over him and bring himself to hyperventilating wasn't anything that he wanted to have happen. Greg began trying to calm himself down and to return his mind to rational thinking as at this moment, it could dictate his very existence, and this was something that he desperately wanted to fight for.

After taking a few quick and shallow breaths to help calm him self down, he started to assess the situation. Due to the length of time that they had spent driving, it was evident that they were well out of city limits which would also account for the solid assumption that he had made about being in the desert. It was also winter time in Vegas, and regardless of the shining sun, there was still a cool chill in the air. With the humidity that was confined to the trunk alone, it was impossible to experience this level of heat while being anywhere else besides the desert.

Thinking about the desert though, even though this was an assumption that had stuck with him for sometime, new thoughts had begun to race through his mind, all negatively considering why they were in the desert. Were they going to bury him alive like they had Nick? Was this going to be a body dump? Were they going to kill him and bury him in the ground so he could never be found? Are they actually abandoning him so that he could suffocate to death and then decompose into the same oozy slime that he accidently got in his mouth when he was processing a crime scene he figured he would be representing? Every thought was persistently growing worse and it started to bring Greg into a panic again. He didn't want to die, and Calvin said that he wasn't going to kill him yet; so why was he still in the trunk?

When his panic finally reached its boiling point, there was nothing that was going to hold him back. Greg lifted up his legs and frantically began to kick the roof of the trunk in a miraculous hope that he could break the latch and the trunk would fly open giving him his needed rush of fresh air. When the latch wasn't breaking though, he began to hyperventilate, viciously pulling in what he could of the absent oxygen, which had ended up only making the situation worse. With being trapped and now he couldn't breath, with everything now on the line, there was only one other thing that he could do, and his voice had finally returned to him as he let out an agonizing and utterly desperate scream for help.

It then happened; the latch released. Greg was startled by the action and he initially couldn't breathe at all regardless of the endless supply of oxygen. He then felt himself quickly being dragged out of the trunk and then dropped to the warm, dry earth. The next sensation was water as it drenched his throat once again. The liquid had fallen past his lips too quickly though, but he was happy that it had for it caused a choking reaction out of him which had made him cough. As soon as this happened, everything felt clear. He could finally breathe once again.

Laying there on the ground, he was able to take a moment to calm down and catch his breathing. There was without a doubt a sense of clarity that surrounded him and this was due to several factors. Being in an open and oxygenated space, being able to comfortably breathe once again, and having the freedom to speak, as his voice had returned to him. There was also the return of his rationality, as he knew it was weak of him to want to die and that no matter what happened beyond this point, he needed to continue to fight for his life. He also came to realize that it wasn't him that had opened the trunk, but it was his rescuer. Whether that person was Calvin or a random person, they saved him and restored a fight back into his spirit.

"Thank you, for sav-ing me," Greg gratefully said.

"Are you okay?"

The voice that had asked of his current well being, Greg had instantly noticed that the voice was unrecognizable. Regardless of the dullness and the lack of expression for concern that was in the man's voice, it was evident that this was indeed a random person, a genuine rescuer.

Greg had let out a heavy sigh of relief once he had realized this. With the concern that the man did show though, his question, Greg felt as if he couldn't answer him. Honestly, he didn't know if he was okay, but he knew he would be on his way to that sense if his rescuer could release him from his binds. "Ca-n you un-tie me?" Greg asked.

There was silence though and it lasted for several seconds. Greg was questioning if this was a man who favored the usage of pregnant pauses, but he figured that when you have someone who was in the situation that he was in, why would a request like this even need a moment to consider? But when the man spoke, Greg began to question if the pause was even due to one considering the request, but rather how to respond to the request in the best way that would insure a doomed spirit within him once again. Greg felt this very way once his rescuer responded to him in a careless tone.

"No, actually I can't."

A heavy gulp knotted its self in his throat when he heard this. "Why?"

Once again, silence came from his supposed rescuer, and Greg feared if it was him pondering the proper thing to say once again. And he was, as he response was far worse then the last one.

"You think that this is over, don't you?"

Greg had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, his situation wasn't about to get any better. The bravado that he had held in his spirit moments ago, as easily as he built it up, it was just as easily destroyed. "Please no," he pleaded to himself, begging his mind not to believe what was going on.

"Unfortunately Sanders, it's not; if anything, it's merely just beginning."

With this supposedly new captor's response, Greg was simply yet blatantly confused. How did he know his last name? Did Calvin give him over to this new deranged bastard intentionally? But if that was the case, it didn't make any sense to Greg, as Calvin was obviously the master of this ordeal, so why would he carelessly give him away.

"Where's Cal-vin?" Greg then asked, his voice practically pleading for his previous captor. Once he said this though, he couldn't believe that he had come to this, that he would rather be in Calvin's hands, but he really rather would if it was between him and this stranger.

"Who's Calvin?"

As soon as he heard this, his spirit was once again obliterated. This man was a random person, and with that a deranged rescuer. This guy had saved him, but of all people to be saved by, he got the guy who literally wants to hold him against his will just for the bloody hell of it. Calvin claimed he had a reason for kidnapping him, but that reason was still unknown to Greg. Right now, he was in the hands of someone who truly seemed to be far more sadistic then Calvin, and that significantly placed an undeniable fear within Greg.

In the midst of this thought, he had then felt a hand clasp around his roots and then ripped his head back. It was an action that he was far too familiar with, but he never thought that he would prefer it when Calvin had done it. He never thought that he would want Calvin's presence, but he was substantially better then being with this sadistic bastard.

"Sir, plea-se. Plea-se let me go," he begged with a weak quivering voice and a pathetic whimper.

"Aren't you curious as you how I know your name?"

This was without a doubt a factor that had contributed to his confusion. The man claimed that he didn't know Calvin, but he knew his name. None of this was making any sense what-so-ever. Greg didn't know how this man knew his name, but a part of him didn't even want to know. Overwhelmed by every mentally agonizing emotion, he simply could bring himself to answer his new captor.

"Greg, I though you've learned by now not to ignore people."

Once Greg heard this voice, he turned to it and his spirit had risen again. The voice was the same sick, sadistic mockery that he was all too familiar with. "Cal-vin, plea-se, he-lp me," he weakly pleaded.

The response that he received though, it filled his spirit once again with a pathetic shame. It was just sinister laughter.

"Wow, I wish I could have gotten that on film," Calvin laughed with a smug pride. "I honestly never thought I could bring you to this point. This is too rich."

Why did he even dare to bother trying to raise his spirits? He felt completely and utterly pathetic once he heard Calvin's response. This entire charade was just a torturous mind fuck. When he was in the trunk, scared that he had been abandoned, it was just fear. Now, he really felt abandoned. He didn't know if Nick and Catherine were still looking for him, and he was in the hands of now three people who just wanted to see how far they could break him. Greg was truly lost.

"You want to take him inside Dave?" Calvin then asked.

"Sure, it'll give us a chance to bond," he smugly said with a twisted laugh.

As his roots were released, Greg had then felt a pressure against his stomach and harsh hands dug into his sides as he was deftly lifted off the ground and slung over the shoulder of the man now known as Dave. It bothered Greg with how easily Dave was able to lift him up as it made him feel that much weaker, as if he wasn't the slightest threat in a single way. He could then feel Dave start to move and he could feel the heavy shift in his shoulders as he felt him walk up what Greg assumed were porch steps. There were loud creaks in the stairs as well as when they were walking across the floor, and even with the every opening door.

There was then a halt as Dave stopped moving, but he then heard the sound of what he thought was a door being unlocked. There was then a loud, eerie creak as the door was pushed open. He then felt Dave begin to walk forward once again, but he had only taken about four steps before he had stopped.

There was once again silence that was looming in the atmosphere, giving the air an eerie and bleak nature. Everything felt cold once again and his skin began to shiver. With fear consuming him once again, his breathing began to increase, and it really hitched once he felt himself starting to slide off of Dave's shoulder. It was an intentional action that he was allowing, but Greg couldn't see where he would be falling. Greg had the assumption that Dave was another large man as he too had broad shoulders so he figured that he could also be tall. Regardless of his height though, he didn't want to helplessly fall to the ground, but he was helpless to prevent it from happening.

Greg had finally started to fall from Dave's shoulder and the only thing that he could do was tense his body, grit his teeth, and just prepare himself for the forceful pain that he would soon feel. The drop was cut short though, but it was still just as painful. He harshly landed on his wrists as he was dumped onto a metal chair with a slanted back. He wasn't shy to exclaim to the pain, but that was cut short as well when he was all of a sudden backhanded along the mouth. It was taking him every last shrivel of strength within not to cry at this moment. To him, it just felt as if everything was gaining up on him, and every time he thought that this was his lowest point, he would then get knocked down again, bringing him to a point that was lower then where he was before.

Calvin then added to that level of helplessness once again. Greg had felt a strong hand with sandpaper skin roughly grip his shoulder. Greg recognized the touch all too well, and quivered under Calvin's hold. Calvin had then jerked his body forward so that his chin was inches from touching his knees. When he had done this, it had put a vicious pressure on his swollen and tender wrists as the circulation in his wrists was severely cut off. But the feeling didn't last long, as with a single snip, his hands separated and fell to his sides. A broken whimper played along his lips as he felt the pressured throb of blood returning to his hands. He brought his hands in front of him and into his lap as he wanted to rub his sore wrists, but he found this hard to due as his hands were viciously shaking. The last time he could remember his hands shaking this badly was after his lab explosion, his nerves setting off the shakes. This time though, it just hurt.

While he was attempting to tend to his wrists, a set of hands had then grabbed his shoulders and jerked his body back so that he was leaning against the back of the chair, and at the same time, he also felt two sets of hands grabbing his wrists. It was then that Greg felt his newly freed wrists being bound once again. His arms were pulled to the side and were placed upon a cold metal chair arm, but what was really beginning to worry him was the type of restraint that they were using. It felt like a belt was being wrapped tightly around his wrist, and as the leather was wrapped around each time, it persistently kept getting tighter and tighter. His wrists were already sore enough, but with the belt restraint, Greg could slowly feel a tingling return to his hands as he felt the circulation decrease once again. Then, if the belt restraint wasn't enough, Greg heard the sound of duct tape being ripped from its roll and the tape was applied over the belt strap and was wrapped around.

Greg sat in a chair in complete helplessness. The sweat that was covering his body had become cold, which had caused his body to viciously shake. With the smug laughter that was echoing throughout the room, Greg finally began to break under the pressures of vulnerability. Unable to contain his panic any longer, he started to thrash his body in the chair and was pulling against his new securing restrains. The attempt was useless though. The only thing that it had offered was to fill Calvin with pride.

Then out of no where, the door had slammed shut which had startled Greg, causing his body to simply freeze. Through the silence that he had held though, Greg had then heard the sound of a confirming click of a locked door. Greg sat there in silence for a few seconds before he questioned the silence. "Hello," he quietly said, but there was no answer. He continued to sit in silence, but when he heard the TV turn on outside of his own room followed by three smug shrills of laughter, it had confirmed his solitude. With the confirmation of his isolation, he finally completely let go of his bottled fear.

There had been countless times that Greg had given into his weakness and had cried in front of his captors, but at this moment, he was proud that he was at least able to hold these tears back, until he was alone. The isolation, it allowed him to give in to the fear that he held and he let the tears of pain, terror, and trauma fall past his eyes.

* * *

"And Greg, the best part about this whole thing, is that Nick and Catherine, they get to watch," mocked Calvin, and it was at these words that both Nick and Catherine had lost it.

The two of them had absolutely no idea what they would be getting into as they watched this video, but it was without a doubt an evident factor that their conscience kept reminding them that they could have prevented the torture and torment that was happening to Greg as they helplessly watched each terrible event. The tour of mockery that Calvin had opened the video with was mentally tormenting on them, and then with having to watch him remove Greg's thumb print, it was something that they couldn't even look at. There was a brief moment of hope though when Greg had run up the stairs to try to escape, but as soon as they heard his agonizing cries for Nick, they both knew that it was a failed attempt. When he was shoved down the stairs, they both thought at that moment he was dead, seeing how lifeless his body looked; tears had instantly fallen from their eyes. But, at the point they were at now, they had both wished for the mercy against Greg and that he had died when he had fallen down the stairs. They both knew what was going to happen to him, and it was something that they both questioned if they could even bear to watch it.

Their eyes were fixed on Greg, and regardless if he was refusing to look into the camera, they could already see the look of horrified shame. There was then a piercing scream of utter agony, and it was then that Nick decided that he had had enough, that he couldn't take it anymore.

"Archie stop the video!" he screamed at the lab tech.

The outburst had startled both the lab tech as well a Catherine, and as Archie abided to Nick's order, Catherine turned to Nick.

"I'm not watching this fuckin shit Catherine! I just can't," he said as he tried to wipe away the continuously falling tears.

Catherine had been crying through most of the video as well, but she was trying her best not to. As an investigator, she always tried to excuse her emotions and when watching videos like this, she always tried to focus on what was important. But this was obviously a different circumstance. Though she knew her soul would die if she watched that video, she tried to see the importance past the abuse. "Nick, I know it's hard, but there could be something important that we need to see."

"Catherine there is nothing important about this video! It was clearly only sent to fuck with all of us! We're watching what we could have prevented and we get to see what it caused! God dammit Catherine I am not watching this!" Nick had screamed back at her.

Hearing Nick, deep down she fully knew that he was right, but she didn't have anything to say.

"The only think that is of any importance is to make sure we see Greg break. Calvin even firmly implied to him that we'll be watching. We both know why he did that. The only thing that was probably going through his mind was what we're going to think of him."

"Nick you know that we're not going to treat him any differently," Catherine stated, knowing that she would never judge a friend in this way, especially Greg, not after all that he has already been through.

"He's not going to see that!" Nick firmly stated. "You remember that case that happened about a month ago, about the boy who got raped in the alley way? He was embarrassed Catherine. Hell when I went to process him he broke my camera. He refused to talk to anyone about it; he just wanted it to all go away. You know Greg probably feels the same way." It was when he had spoken these words though that he felt as if he finally fully understood what had just happened to Greg. It's not just a sick idea anymore; it's a shameful reality, that Greg was just severely violated only a few hours ago.

After taken a few deep breathes, he finally continued with his agonizing speech. "You know Calvin only sent us this video for this one scene. To firmly show us what we could have prevented. The next time Greg sees us, all he is going to see are the two people who watched him get raped," Nick bluntly stated. "I refuse to have my best friend look at me like that! Greg was stripped of his dignity because of that sadistic bastard; I'm not going to diminish it any further. If you want to watch the video, then feel free to, but I refuse to. I haven't scene anything to prove a damn thing other then we're oblivious CSI's."

Catherine was having a hard time trying to hold back her tears. With everything that Nick was saying, she knew that he was right. She also didn't have the will power to watch a video like this one, and she also knew that she needed to do the same thing when it came to respecting Greg and his dignity, or at least what remained of it.

"Hey guys, I know that you don't want anyone watching the video, but Catherine, she does have a point. There is still about fifteen minutes left, and I'll look to see if there is anything that could be useful. I've scene several videos like this over the years, and I think I can tolerate it," Archie had humbly offered. He didn't know how he would react to seeing a colleague and close friend being violated, but being the labs audio and visual tech for nine years, he figured that he would be able to stand it a lot more then Nick and Catherine would be able to. Regardless though, never had he felt so hesitant to watch a video before. Granted he had scene some rather disturbing and inhumane videos in the past, but this one had to be the worst.

Nick didn't want anyone to watch the video, but then again, Archie did have a valid point. They were filled with a sense of pained relief, but they trusted Archie to watch it more then anyone else in the lab. Without a word said, the two of them nodded their heads and left the A/V lab before Archie would resume the video and they would have to see another second of that disaster.

As the two of them left the A/V lab, happiness seemed to an emotion that didn't even exist anymore. Catherine was trying to think of something though that would take their mind off what they had just scene, so Catherine had come up with a suggestion. "You want to go and see if Wendy is done with processing the DNA results?"

Nick had simply nodded his head and the two of them had headed down to the DNA lab, and as the two of them walked in, Wendy had greeted them with her own introduction. "Oh good, you're here, I was about to page you guys. I have several results for you."

"Are most related to Greg?" asked Catherine.

"Yes, most are, but not all," Wendy replied. "As I said in your page earlier, one of the blood samples came back to Greg, and so did the rest. The blood on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, over by the chair, and on the rag; they all came back to Greg."

"So there were no other donors," Nick asked.

"Of blood, no, but of hair, yes," Wendy had stated with a hidden grin of optimism.

"But we didn't collect any hair," stated Nick.

"Not intentionally, but in the blood sample found at the bottom of the stairs, you luckily collected a loose hair with the blood. So I ran the hair against Greg, and no match. I then ran the hair against the unknown blood at the crime scene that Greg was taken at, and still no match. So finally, I ran it through CODIS; your hair belongs to a Mark Carson." Wendy then walked over to the computer, followed by Nick and Catherine, and pulled up the CODIS hit. "He has a criminal record for a few DUI's, drug possession, breaking and entering, and rape."

"And he is 6ft 5; tall enough to fit the height description of the man I saw," informed Nick.

"We should show Lauryn a picture of him and see if she could maybe ID him as the person who dropped of the package at the Donnar's," suggested Catherine.

"Anyway, continuing" said Wendy, redirecting Nick and Catherine's attention again. "So the vomit on the rag matched Greg's DNA, and I checked the blow torch to see if I could get any DNA off it, and all I got was burnt flesh residue that belonged to Greg."

Catherine knew that she had given Wendy one more piece of evidence, and after seeing the video and knowing what had now happened to Greg, she was scared to ask; it would just be even further confirming the reality. "What about the semen?"

When Catherine brought this up, a wave of absolute seriousness filled the room. "In the sample that you guys collected, I got two donors, and it was both blood and semen," she had informed. There was more that she needed to say, but she didn't want to. There was already enough bad news, and what she had to tell them, it sure as hell wasn't any better. "You guys, I'm sorry, but I think that Greg was-"

"Wendy we know," Nick snapped, instantly cutting her off.

Wendy was without a doubt taken back by this news. It was one thing to discover it in the lab, but hearing the conformation, it made it just that much worse. "Anyways, the blood belonged to Greg and the semen was a match to the blood found at the crime scene that Greg was taken from."

"Well then that's practically proof right there that Calvin staged the crime scene, and he used his own blood."

"Wait, how do you know that the semen belongs to Calvin?" Wendy asked.

Nick really didn't want to answer that. He trusted Wendy, but he figured that the less people that knew that he was raped the better. "Wendy, don't take it personally, but I can't tell you. It has to do with some evidence that we found."

"Alright," she replied, respecting their choice to not say anything.

"So is that everything?" asked Catherine.

"That's all the evidence that you've given me. So that's everything" confirmed Wendy.

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So I hoped you guys enjoyed chapter 18, and I also have a question for you guys. Where you guys at all fooled or whatever at the scene when Greg was "rescued" from the trunk? Like what were your thoughts or whatever with that scene? I am simply curious :D!

And to my thanks for my readers…

For adding my story to their favorites list, thank you Airforce1990

And for the reviews, thank you CMAli 1, WMG, VisionX23, anita, LovingYourWork, CrazyLeex, JodsRaine, and crimescenelover. Thank you guys so much for the reviews, and as always, I love getting them, so be sure to keep them coming :D!

So thanks for reading everyone!


	19. Unanswered Answers

I don't really have any opening author's notes for this chapter. So I guess this is it then. Enjoy chapter 19 everyone and don't forget to write a review :)!

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**Chapter 19****: Unanswered Answers**

The moments that he spent releasing his weakness, when Greg had finally shed his final tear, he was exhausted. By this point, with the entire emotional trauma that he had endured, it had brought him to the most absolute point of mental exhaustion that it made him feel as if he had aged ten years. At this moment, there was nothing more that he wanted then to sleep.

With everything still and calm for once, sleep had finally began to take over him and Greg's heavy eyes had finally started to droop, but before he could drift off, Greg had heard the door being unlocked. The noise had alerted his attention, but his lack of energy had consumed him, and he couldn't find it within to care about whoever was coming through that door.

When the door had opened, there wasn't a single word mutter; only the sound of approaching footsteps announced one of his three captor's presence. The footsteps had stopped though and planted themselves right in front of him. Greg was unfazed by the presence, but that changed as soon as he felt a hand touch his face. The energy had returned back to him as the touch had startled him, sending a vicious jerk through his body, fully waking him up once again.

"Relax Greg, I'm taking your blindfold off," Calvin calmly instructed.

The calm in his voice, it was odd for Greg to hear. The times when he had heard Calvin speak in a calm voice; it was always accompanied by a harsh tone and a brute forcefulness. This time, there was a genuine calm in his voice and a relaxed nature. Greg let out a slow breath and he relaxed his body. There was a strange vibe that Greg felt though, but he figured it was strange due to the fact of how normal Calvin was posing to be.

As Calvin had removed his blindfold, the sudden light that was brought before Greg made him close his eyes just as quickly as he was able to open them. The light was sharp against his exposed retinas as well as it had irritated his puffy red stained eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the light though, he was finally able to see his surroundings. The first thing that had caught his attention was the single small window that was in the room on the opposite side of where he was. What Greg had taken to notice was the fact that the sun was still shining which had mildly helped Greg get an idea of what time it was. He still hadn't the slight clue of how long he had been missing for, but at least the sun had given him somewhat of an idea.

The next thing that he had noticed about the room was that it seemed like a craftsman's workspace. There were work benches and numerous tools such as hammers and saws, nails, and electrical devices. Though Greg didn't currently feel the threats of the room, all in all, it wasn't the greatest room that he felt he could be in, especially when being a victim of torture and being surrounded by the raw materials with the potential to inflict pain. Greg tried to ignore this fact though, and finally taking in the sight of his new prison, he turned his attention to Calvin.

"Where are Mark and Dave?" Greg firstly questioned.

"In the living room," Calvin had honestly answered.

"How come you're in here alone?"

"I wanted to talk to you alone."

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Calvin was silent for a second. There were several things that he wanted to ask Greg, but he had no idea where to start. But he then decided to start off with his captive. "Have you given up hope?"

The concept of hope, Greg had given up on, but he figured that was because he felt as if hope had also abandoned him. But after thinking about his question, the concept of hope, it was something that truly was just sketchy to him. He didn't want to hold out for hope, because he didn't want to be let down like he had been several times, but without hope, then there was nothing that was worth fighting for. "I'm not entirely sure," he finally answered, though not really answering Calvin's question.

"That wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for, so let me rephrase it. Do you still believe that Nick and Catherine are looking for you?"

Greg had remembered earlier thoughts regarding this very question, but they were mostly guided by his current feelings of helplessness. At this moment, he didn't feel as helpless as he did before, so as he took a second to ponder his answer, Greg then replied to Calvin's question. "Yes, I do believe that they are still looking for me, but I am a little sketchy on the concept of whether they'll find me or not."

Calvin was instantly intrigued by Greg's response, once again, it being an answer that he had not expected. "Why do you question whether they'll be able to find you?"

"You said that you were giving them the chance that they never gave _him._ It's evident that you are doing that, as I am still alive. But you haven't given them any chance or way to find me here. If they aren't supposed to find me here, then why haven't you killed me?"

"Confusion is a frustrating thing, isn't it," Calvin said with a small grin in the corner of his mouth. "There are answers that you want, and they're answers that are out there, but you have to take the time find them. Finding them is the issue."

"Then why don't you help me find them. You have all the answers."

"What do you want to know?"

Greg was silent for a second. Never did he think he would ever have this chance to talk to Calvin and get answers, but this was now his opportunity. He knew that he had to be careful with his questions though, make sure that they would offer the best benefits for getting information out of Calvin. "I'm still standing by the whole fact that I know that I am innocent in all of this," Greg started off by saying, but he stopped for a second when he saw a smug smile play along Calvin's lips. Greg was curious as to why this was, but didn't yet question it. "But you said that you have a reason for my kidnapping, as you do everything else. I want to know what your reason for kidnapping me is."

"That is a superb question Greg… but unfortunately," he slowly said as he looked into Greg's eyes and saw the light of chance and hope drain from them. "I can't," he finally continued.

There was a brief second of utter disappointment when Calvin answered him, but that feeling quickly turned into anger. In a frustrated fury, Greg began to thrash his body against his restrains, and when he stopped, he started to scream at Calvin. "Why are you doing this to me!"

Calvin got a kick out of Greg's reaction to his denial, but as he returned the same question to him, Calvin once again gave the same answer. "I'm sorry Greg but-" he started to say, before he was cut off.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry to me! You say sorry to someone when you unintentionally do something, and you _say_ that you intentionally kidnap me! Tell me why you're fucking doing this to me!" Greg continued to scream in agonizing frustration.

Calvin was taken back by Greg's outburst. Just hours ago, and even minutes ago, he continued to see Greg possess a lost and broken spirit. To see the vast transition from this weak victim to this fierce and desperate captive, it not only caught Calvin's attention, but it also finally made him answer Greg's question. "Do you believe me when I say that I've kidnapped you for a reason?"

"Yes and no," he firstly answered. "I believe you, because you're far too meticulous for this to just be a random thing. But that just goes for your kidnapping skills. I don't believe you, because I know I'm an innocent person, and I have never met you before in my life, and I just don't see how those two factors add up to explain why I have been kidnapped."

"And yet, it is those very two factors that do indeed explain why you've been kidnapped," Calvin spoke with a bright smile.

To his response, Greg dropped his head back against the chair as he let out a heavy sigh of confusion and frustration. When Calvin saw this, it immediately issued a new question. "Greg, do you think an innocent person should die?"

When asked this, Greg wasn't shy to release a single phony sarcastic laugh to this question. "My job consists of defending the death of the innocent so that their deaths are not in vain," he answered valiantly.

The pride that Greg held in his voice, Calvin just excused it for arrogance, and he wasn't shy to knock Greg's high spirits back down a couple of notches. "Are you shittin me right now Sanders? I've got a personal experience that can obliterate everything you just said. Your job isn't defending the innocent. Hell, you've even convicted your own fuck-ups. Don't you dare put your job in the position to make you look like a damn hero. The most that you can offer is a stupid scripted line filled with pseudo-remorse: I'm sorry for your loss. Bull shit!"

"You don't think we know that's a pathetic line! We know it doesn't offer a damn thing!" Greg then retorted back at Calvin.

"I don't care about the line! I care about what you said about defending the innocent?"

"It's what we do!"

"Then answer my damn question. Do you think an innocent person should die?"

"NO!" Greg finally shouted at Calvin. "I'm an innocent person and I don't think I should die, and no other innocent person out there should either!"

After Greg's retort back at Calvin, there was silence between the two men for about a minute. It was a needed moment from Greg to calm down once again and return to the seriousness of this opportunity to be able to talk to Calvin. His next words though, it put Greg into both a spiral of confusion and frustration.

"And that is what I want from you Greg," Calvin answered once again.

Hearing Calvin say this, Greg couldn't help but to roll his eyes at his disgustingly misleading response. "You're talking in circles, you know that?" Greg replied with a bewildered look across his face.

A small chuckle left Calvin's mouth once he heard this, as he wasn't shy to express the humor that he saw in Greg's answer. "Well I don't want to give you all of the answers, just yet. There's still a lot that's going to happen, and I don't want to give you the gift of sanity right now."

"So I guess that you're not going to let me know who _him_ is yet then, huh?" Greg assumed with a slump in his voice and a bitter attitude.

"Is that your next question?" Calvin then seriously questioned.

Greg had then looked up at Calvin, meeting his eyes with a quizzical look of surprise and a raised eyebrow. "You're seriously going to answer that?"

There was a smirk that played on the left corner of his mouth as he answered his befuddled captive, "Why don't you ask _him_ yourself?"

A disturbing look of utter perplexity filtered into Greg's eyes as soon as he said this, as well as his eyes narrowed and an intensely baffled look was spread across his face. "Wait… are you _him_?"

Silence was once again held between the two of them, Calvin tauntingly holding in his answer as Greg sat there with a look that was praying for his confusion to be solved.

"No," Calvin finally answered though, but his answer, it hadn't surprised Greg.

A dumbfounded look came across his face and as well, Greg released an arrogant chuckle. "Well, of course you aren't, because why would you tell me?" he said with a voice of mockery, the mockery being directed toward himself.

Calvin was disappointed in Greg's response though, so once again, he implied the same answer. "I just told you Greg."

"You know, I would really appreciate it if you stopped talking in circles. I've encountered enough mind games today, hell for a lifetime; I don't need to tackle one more."

"I'm not talking in circles Greg. I'm simply answering your question as best I can. You know, if you took a second to comprehend what I was telling you, you could maybe come up with a general idea," Calvin said, offering genuine words of advice to his captive.

But Calvin's words went unheard to Greg as he hopelessly replied to Calvin's babble. "I just don't want to play this game anymore."

Greg's words, they had intrigued Calvin. Since the beginning of this whole ordeal, he had yet to see how these events portrayed them self as a game, but after considering Greg's comment, he finally began to see the play in his actions. "So you think that this is a game? Then why don't you tell me Greg, who's-who in this? I mean, with all games, there's a winner, a loser, and there is always an objective. I want you to identify those factors for me."

There was silence between them once again, but Greg as well remained unmoved for the current position he was sitting in. To Calvin, it almost seemed that he hadn't heard him at all, but he realized that it was like Greg was questioning whether or not to answer his question. "Humor me Greg," Calvin then said, having the words as a motivating push to get Greg to once again play along in his _game._

After a heavy gulp, Greg finally answered Calvin. "Well I'm taken that you're the winner, which makes me the loser," he answered with a defeated spirit.

"You've pinned me right," Calvin commented with a proud smile. "No matter what, I win."

"And why's that?" Greg curiously asked, though with minimal care.

"No matter what happens to you, I'm content with it."

Calvin's word choice had once again confused Greg, so once again, he offered a simply question that he hoped would solve at least this one mean of befuddlement. "And that means?"

"That you can be either the winner or the loser," Calvin said with a hopeful smile. "It's all up to you, your fate."

This news was rather overwhelming for Greg, realizing that he was now given a conformation that there was still a chance that he was going to survive. "So I'm not going to die?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Calvin merely replied, "I don't know."

"You must hate that though, I mean, you're all about control," Greg mentioned.

"It's one thing for control to be taken from you; it's another when you willfully surrender it. I have chosen to give you control in this way, but me giving you control, I still have control. Just as easily as I have given it to you, I can just as easily take it away."

"And by that you mean that you could put your gun to my head and blow my brains out?"

Calvin actually laughed at this response, as he never thought that this would be something that he would actually do, but after thinking about what exactly Greg was implying, he replied to him. "Well if I were to do that, it would be because of you."

There was smug smirk that appeared across Greg's face when Calvin said this. With everything that was happening to him, the way that Calvin was trying to make him look like the bad guy, it really got to him. "Yeah, because you have to punish the innocent guy who's just trying to defend himself for everything right? And why would you do that exactly, because that's your amazing philosophy, because all of your punishments are for a reason," Greg bitterly snided with an irritable tone.

Calvin knew that Greg was overwhelmed with emotions at this moment, having been through all that he had already endured, so it wasn't a surprise to him to see a side of frustration present its self once Calvin began to talk to him. What was upsetting Calvin though was the arrogance that he was now beginning to exploit. It wasn't that he was upset that Greg was being arrogant, but that with his arrogance, he was building him self up, and Calvin knew that he needed to knock Greg back down, and he knew exactly how to do that. "You know what, you're right Greg. All of my punishments against you are for a reason. So with that in mind, let me ask you this. Why do you think that I raped you?"

With his anger building inside of him, the arrogance that he held within him, it had given him confidence, and as soon as Calvin asked this, that confidence abandoned him. That was his moment of utter weakness and it was a moment that he never wanted to remember, that he just wanted to go away. But Calvin had to mention it, and he knew that he mentioned it to once again build himself up, and to break him down. Greg didn't want to give Calvin anymore satisfaction when it came to this subject, so he just decided to ignore him and remained silent.

Regardless of Greg's absent answer, it still didn't prevent Calvin from exploiting the sinister truth. "I'll tell you right now, I didn't do it because you tried to escape. It wouldn't have mattered to me if you tried to escape or not, I was still going to do it. Mark pushing you down the stairs was your punishment for trying to escape. It was like a bonus feature for the video, the sprinkles on top of the sundae. Raping you, you did nothing to deserve that. All it was was the grand finale, the cherry on top. So why do you think I raped you."

With everything that Calvin was saying, Greg couldn't hold back his tears. The fact that Calvin had admitted that what he had done to him, he didn't deserve it. Greg knew that, but hearing his captive heartlessly admit to it was far worse. Disgusted by the vile beast in front of him, Greg still refused to answer him.

"Oh come on Greg, I do everything for a reason, why not take a guess," Calvin mocked once again seeing that Greg had yet to answer him.

Calvin teasing had finally triggered a reaction out of Greg, but it was once again an arrogant remark. "Just shut up," he viciously demanded.

Calvin did get a kick out of once again seeing Greg try to make a valiant effort at standing up for himself, but he was growing tiresome of Greg still not responding to him. But once again, Calvin didn't dismiss his chance to mess with Greg. "No, I want you to answer that. And if you don't, I mean come on Greg, you said it your self that all my punishments are for a reason. Want to see what this punishment for ignoring me once again is going to be?" he taunted with a merciless spirit.

"Calvin, I have no fuckin idea and I don't care anymore! What I care about is that you did it because you wanted to," Greg yelled at him, finally snapping.

Greg's answer though, it just as well upset Calvin. "I did it because of what you represent in this whole thing! I didn't want to rape you, but I did it because I had to!"

Greg was just as fed up with Calvin and with every word of bull shit that had come out of him mouth. Once again, the anger and arrogance fully returned to Greg and he wasn't shy to let Calvin see it. "But why me! Why the innocent guy! I have done nothing to you and you still continue to explain to me that I don't deserve this to happen to me and yet you still proceed to do it, and not only that, but mock me, with everything! Just leave me the fuck alone!"

"I'm not going to give you that luxury!" Calvin firstly snapped at Greg, seeing that his dominance in this situation was now getting to Greg. "You'll get to be alone soon enough. Until then, you're still going to be my stupid puppet that I get to control. You want to know why this is happening to you, because of what you unfortunately represent," he finally admitted, though it wasn't anything that was really going to provide Greg with anymore explainable or understandable answers.

"And let me guess, you're not going to elaborate beyond that point now are you?" Greg quipped with an irritable tone of admitted defeat.

"As I have said before Greg, why don't you ask _him_ yourself?" Calvin once again emphasized.

At this moment, Greg was just so completely overwhelmed with all the information that he was given and the frustration of not being able to comprehend any of it. He was finally given answers, but he felt as if he knew less now then he did before. In his moments of silence though, as Greg was trying to piece together some of the information that he was given, there was a new question that had then filtered into his scrambled mind, a question that he hoped would explain the beginning of all this. "When did you decide to target me?"

"That's a random question Greg," Calvin answered, thrown by the change of subject.

"I just want to know when all this started."

Calvin was quiet for a moment, calculating the numbers in hi head before he answered Greg's question. "For the first four years, you were of no interest to me. The fifth year, it became all about you."

Hearing this, Greg's jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. With the information that Calvin had claimed to know about him and his co-workers, it had dawned on Greg that he had most likely been stalking him. The most he had figured that he would have been stalked for was maybe a month or two, not more then a year. "So you've watched me for five years?" he asked with a look and voice of utter shock.

"No, as I said, the first four years, you were just a mere bystander. Times here and there, I would see you, but I expressed no care. Until the plan changed. The fifth year, you were my target."

Greg didn't know exactly what kind of answers he was getting, but they were at least explaining something, to at least a certain degree. "So I wasn't the original target?"

"No, but as I said Greg, things changed, things that were out of my control, so I had to take control back, and when I did, the plan had changed," Calvin informed with a proud smile on his face.

"Well why you would wait so long to kidnap me? I mean one year, that a long time to watch someone, let alone you watched someone for four years before me, and you never attacked."

"I've never done anything like this before. I was a noble citizen before all this, never dreamed of doing this to someone. But five years ago, I snapped. I had a target, and at several times, I almost acted upon my dark instinct. But then, the plan changed. And when it changed, so did my target. I wanted to make sure you were the right one, and what were you?" Calvin was then silent for a moment. In his mind he was still absolutely mesmerized with how sublime Greg was in all of this. With a voice of ecstasy and wonder, he continued by saying, "You were perfect."

It was completely evident to Greg that he was indeed a perfect factor in Calvin's twisted masterpiece, which was disgustingly disturbing. But trying to ignore this fact, he had a couple other questions that he wanted to ask, so he continued to question his captor with the enchanted glaze in his eyes. "So why did you pick to kidnap me last night?"

Calvin was pulled out of fantasy when he was asked this question, but as he returned to the reality of the moment, he answered his captive. "Because everything was ready, and so was I."

"Well how did you know that I would be the one who would show up at the crime scene? I mean, what if Nick just showed up, or Catherine?"

"I didn't know if you were going to be the one to show up, but I was ready last night and this is Vegas; what's life without a little gamble? I'll be honest though, I was absolutely blown away by how smooth everything played out and how everything worked perfectly to our advantage. But to answer your other question, if Nick or Catherine or anyone else showed up, they were of absolutely no interest to me. If you didn't show up, the plan was useless, but I would try again, and believe me Greg, it wouldn't have been hard for me to succeed. No matter what, you were going to be in my clutches."

"What if Nick and Catherine found me in the house?"

"I brought them into my house so that they would have that chance to. If they found you, then they would have succeeded. I gave them a chance to save you, but they didn't. Obviously, I'm glad that they didn't, but if they did, then bravo to them."

"And you would have just let them walk out of that house with me?" Greg asked, confused yet blown away with what Calvin was saying.

"Honestly yes, I just wish that it was that easy for _him_ but obviously, it wasn't, just like it was for you. As I said Greg, everything I do, it's for a reason."

Everything that Calvin was saying, it all just seemed completely outrageous to Greg. The answers that he was given that he understood, they were disgraceful and utterly shocking, but the answers that didn't make any sense, regardless of the fact that they were confusing, what did make some sense was completely disturbing. No mater what position he was in though, it was an understatement to say that he felt just a lost as he was before. At this moment, he honestly wanted nothing more then to talk to Nick or Catherine. Feeling lost, he at least wanted to know if they were having better luck with finding their way, and he hoped that they were. Thinking about Nick and Catherine though, a request had sparked in his mind. It was a long shot request, but one none the less.

"Calvin, would you let me talk to Nick and Catherine?" Greg asked with a pleading voice.

Calvin smugly had to try to stifle a laugh when he heard this, as it seemed way too risky of an act to go through with. But not wanting to admit that, his uncertainty with remaining safe, he instead decided to have Greg plead his case, though he figured it would most likely be declined. "I just said that I do everything for a reason, what reason do I have to allow you to talk to them?"

Calvin's question had already answered his own. With a heavy sigh and defeated spirit, he answered his question with a hopeless anticipation. "I just want to talk to them Calvin."

"Well what would you say to them?"

Greg was silent for a second, genuinely pondering what he would actually say to them. Asking them to help him he figured would be the worst thing that he could say, seeming that it was something that they were already trying to do and he didn't want to embellish the fact further in their conscience that he was still missing. Regarding the information that Calvin told him, he couldn't make much sense of it, so it wasn't like there was anything to tell. If he were put in a situation like this very one that he was desperately hoping for, he assumed that it would probably start out as one of those awkward calls that would eventually lead into an uplifting conversation. Even just the thought of possibly getting to talk to Nick and Catherine was uplifting enough on its own. Returning from his thoughts back into reality, with a dumbfounded look, he finally answered Calvin. "I have no idea."

"Then what would the point be exactly?"

"Calvin I don't know, I jus-… I just want to talk to them," he tiredly said.

Calvin was silent for a moment before he replied. "I don't know Greg, I mean, I have to be careful. I don't need you telling them anything that's important."

"Well the only thing that you would really have to worry about me telling them is where I am right, and I have absolutely no idea where the hell we are? Plus, what you did tell me, I thought it was evident that I'm utterly confused by everything you said. I'm just not really seeing the risk. What are you afraid that I am going to say? Like seriously, if there is something, tell me what it is and I won't say it. I'm serious Calvin; I just want to talk to them."

Calvin was silent once again as he took in everything that Greg had jut said to him. "I have to say Greg; you've made a compelling argument."

"Please Calvin, just please let me talk to them."

"Well what do I get in return then?" Calvin then asked out of the blue.

Greg was taken back by this, not knowing Calvin to be one who would demand something in return, but then again, it didn't surprise him. Everything that Calvin had done thus far, it always ended up benefiting himself in some way, so why not on this rare occasion, when something would actually go toward benefiting Greg, why wouldn't Calvin want a piece of it either. "What do you want?" Greg hesitantly asked, fearing what the answer would be.

At this moment, a perfect opportunity had presented its self to allow Calvin to mess with Greg once again. "Would you give me anything?" he asked with a tease in his voice as his eyes scrutinized his captives flesh.

Greg had unfortunately recognized that very look in Calvin's eyes, as they were the same eyes that had invaded is soul as he raped him. "Define… anything," he cautiously asked with a thick gulp.

"Well if I let you talk to them, that's a pretty hefty favor on my part, so want something in return. What do you have to offer me?"

Greg was silent once again. Overwhelmed by this opportunity that was dangling by a thread in front of his face, Greg just simply didn't know how to answer Calvin's question. Never had he been asked to put a price on something that was so valuable before and he didn't even know where to begin when it came to setting that price.

"Can't figure out a price, huh?" Calvin then taunted, seeing the overwhelmed expression on Greg face.

"Calvin," Greg first said, pleading for the genuine attention of this madman. "I just want to talk to them, please," he weakly begged.

"Then answer my question."

"I can't" Greg brokenly said.

"Then don't talk to them," Calvin then said as he finally turned to leave the room.

As Greg saw Calvin begin to leave, he saw his vital chance to talk to Nick and Catherine begin slip through his fingers. Just as Calvin was ready to walk out the door, he desperately called back to Calvin. "Calvin please, please let me talk to Nick," he begged, just on the verge of tears.

"Will you give me anything?" Calvin asked without looking at Greg.

Greg knew that the word _anything_ held a defining meaning behind it, and Greg dreaded to find out what exactly _anything_ meant, though he had a good idea. But at this moment, he wanted nothing more then to talk to Nick and Catherine, as it was worth what ever he would have to endure. Finally answering Calvin, with a broken voice and a tear pushing past his duct, he finally blurted out in a shameful mess, "I'll give you anything."

As Calvin turned around and saw the broken spirit return to Greg, Calvin knew exactly what Greg had assumed _anything _meant. Seeing this, it was the first time that Calvin had actually held sympathy for Greg – to a certain degree. He respected his determination and his will to accomplish what he felt was vital and important though. He finally gave Greg his price, and it wasn't a price to degrade. "I want you to bring me the head of John the Baptist," he said with an empty voice and a blank stare.

Relief filled his eyes but it was immediately replaced by confusion. Greg had assumed that Calvin's intentions were to violate him once again, but with his response, Greg wasn't even sure what to make of it. "Wh-, what?" he asked as he chocked back a tear.

"You know what that means, right?" asked Cal in complete seriousness.

It took Greg a second to return to the seriousness of the situation and for him recall the story of John the Baptist. "Salome wanted proof that John was dead, so he asked for his head on a silver platter. It represents that you want proof of something," Greg explained. After he explained himself though, tit had dawned on Greg what Calvin was asking for. "What do you want proof of?"

"Just remember it Greg, alright," Calvin answered, as he realized that this was another answer that he didn't want to give Greg just yet. "Until then though, I'll let you talk to Nick," Calvin finally said as he pulled his disposable phone from his pocket.

* * *

Hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. The next few chapters coming up, there is going to be a lot of Greg angst and stuff, and in about 3 to 4 chapters, you guys are gonna get to read about the super angsty and totally epic daring escape attempt that I mentioned earlier!

Anyway, I also have a question for you guys. So Greg is rather confused as to all that is going on, regardless of the information that he has been given. Well here is your chance and opportunity for you guys to tell me what you have been able to put together from what Calvin has told Greg. Do you guys have any thoughts or predictions or conspiracies or anything like that? Like what do you think Greg _"represents" _in all this? I would love to know where your guy's thoughts stand so please, let me know!

And for my thanks to my readers…

Thank you Bloodpoisoned for adding my story to your favorites list.

And for reviewing, thank you VisionX23, Anonymous, WMG, anita, Tracy, JodsRaine, and crimescenelover. Every day after I post a chapter, I am constantly checking my email to see if I got a new review, so thank you guys all for reviewing so that I can hear my email make its delightful little ring to let me know I have a new fanfic review. You guys rock!

Anyway, until chapter 20 (I can't believe I have 20 chapters), Adios :D!


	20. A Phone Call of Mockery

Okay, up front, I am so sorry for the wait for this chapter. Honestly, I completely struggled writing the emotions for this chapter. Like I didn't want it to be sappy or cliché or anything like that. I then had to keep in mind that and incorporate the fact that this is the first time that Nick has talked to Calvin since when he was in the house, its just a lot has happened (obviously) and I just needed to make sure that I got the emotion right and I was not going to post it till I was satisfied. I now feel satisfied :).

Also, there are a lot of dates and times being thrown around in here but know that they are all accurate and perfectly coincide with the times and events when they occurred in the CSI episodes. This was another factor in my delay of an update, as I wanted to make sure my facts were perfect and accurate… which they are now.

Anyway, enjoy chapter 20 and don't forget to leave a snazzy little review!

* * *

**Chapter 20: A Phone Call ****of Mockery**

After getting their unfortunate results from Wendy in the DNA lab, there was only one other piece of evidence that really needed to be attended to; the crates of pictures and documentation that had been kept in Calvin's basement. Nick and Catherine weren't expecting to find anything in these crates that would point them to where Greg was, but they figured that it would at least begin to answer a few questions regarding how this all started, and this was without a doubt the perfect place to begin.

Starting off from the very beginning, Catherine grabbed the first crate which was filled with multiple file folders that dated back to September 2004 and all the way into August 2005. Nick had grabbed the second crate and the evidence in there was dated back to September 2005 and going to August 2006. It was evident that Calvin was very meticulous with this as every file was perfectly organized according to month, and then the items inside the folders were organized by a week. They were files inside of files inside of crates.

Choosing to tackle this essential evidence with structured care, Nick and Catherine decided to start off with going through the pictures first and then to follow up with Calvin's journals after. They figured that it was best to separate the two tasks from each other as tackling both at once would be far too overwhelming and it would almost guarantee a chance for them to possibly make a mistake.

As the two of them started to thoroughly go through the pictures, they had both noticed that the pictures taken were always focused on certain individuals of their team. The pictures had then started to get organized into piles by who was the main focus in the image. As the piles grew though, it was clear that most of the pictures were focused on Grissom and then followed Nick, but it was by a vast difference. The rest of the team, when they were photographed, they were nothing more then mere bystanders, but they were taken at the same time that pictures of Grissom had been taken as you could tell that the crime scenes were the same.

When Nick and Catherine had reached the last picture in their crates and their first group of photos had finally been completely organized, it was evident to the two of them that Grissom seemed to be more of Calvin's target, more then Greg ever posed to be.

"I only have 12 pictures of Greg where he was the central focus," Nick stated, simply informing his boss.

"I've got around 30," Catherine replied. "Though more then half of them are shared with Grissom. I'm assuming it was due to Greg just getting out in the field; becoming a CSI. There was also the split of the team so Greg was working with Grissom more regularly."

"Regardless of who he worked with though, it doesn't really seem that Greg was Calvin's original target," Nick then added.

"Well that's obvious," she stated with a small knowing laugh. "If Calvin was originally targeting Grissom, for whatever reason, there's obviously a point where that all switched, where Greg became his focus."

"Let's keep looking through the crates then, maybe the pictures can tell us," said Nick as he reached for the crate that was closest to him.

Catherine followed in Nick's lead and grabbed the only crate that was left which held the files from September 2006 to August 2007. Organizing the pictures like she did before, she grabbed September's folder and sorted all the pictures into the proper piles, which was once again basically just a Grissom pile. Once she finished with September, she then continued into October, then November, and then December, organizing every picture. When she went to grab the folder for January though, it wasn't there. This had thrown her off as she first though that she had lost a file, but she didn't know how that could have even happened, but she knew it wasn't like Calvin to misplace something that was so meticulously kept.

"Nick, do you by any chance have a file in yours for January 2007?" Catherine asked, wanting to solve why this one file was missing.

Nick looked over at Catherine and gave her a quizzical look before he checked his crate per her request. Checking his crate, he was more so doing it as a gesture of courtesy toward her, as he knew that he was looking for a file that wasn't going to be there. Upon searching through the folders, as he expected, he didn't find the file that Catherine was looking for, so he turned back to her and said, "Sorry Cath, but I only have January 2008 and January 2009."

Everything with Nick's simply response confused her. She wasn't surprised to hear that the folder she was looking for wasn't in Nick's crate, but she was still surprised to find that regardless Nick still had two folders for the month of January in his crate. "Wait, why is January 2009 in there? It's clear that Calvin keeps these crates organized by the year, so why is that one in there?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, he had answered Catherine's question. "I've also got September 2008 as well, and Octobers, and Novembers, and Decembers," Nick then further informed. "I thought that was strange too, I mean I have five additional months in here."

"Have you looked at them yet?"

"I want to, but I want to make sure that I keep this in order and organized and everything. I don't want to look at one picture out of order or else I feel like I'll mess this whole thing up."

"That's probably best," she said agreeing with Nick.

The two of them then turned their focus back to sorting through the folders and continued organizing the pictures into the appropriate piles. Trying to ignore the taunting misplacement of the folder January 2007, Catherine took the next file out of the crate which was February. The first picture that she saw was of Grissom and Michael Keepler. Catherine looked at the picture in silence for a moment as she reminisced on the memory of the man who basically took his own life for her. He was a dear man whose life was lost far too soon, and she refused to allow the same unbearable fate to fall on Greg. Catherine decided to set this picture aside in its own pile before she continued to sort through the rest of February.

The rest of the files in February, several of the pictures surprisingly held photo's of the miniature models. Memories from when Sara was kidnapped came back to her, specifically the moment when the team realized that her kidnapper, the Miniature Killer Natalie Davis, worked in the lab as a janitor. Being a janitor was the perfect and explainable cover for her when it came to having access of the lab, but with Calvin, he was a man that neither she or Nick had ever scene before. The access that this man had to their lives, it was astonishing yet incredibly disturbing.

Finishing up with the rest of the files in the crate, as Catherine approached August, she has finally reached the end and without one explainable answer for anything other then that Grissom seemed to be the original target. There were a few pictures of Greg, but only seven at the most. With the additional piles that weren't solely of Grissom, they were of Sara or of the two of them together. The goal that they had with searching through these pictures was to find out when Calvin decided to target Greg which this crate did nothing when it came to assisting her with obtaining this answer.

"Have you found anything that explains why Calvin decided to target Greg?" Catherine pleadingly asked Nick, hoping for a helpful answer.

"Can you give me a second, I just have to look through this last file and then I'm done," Nick explained as he proceeded to sort the photos in his hand.

With a heavy sigh as her answer, Catherine turned her attention back to the photos in front of her. Off the bat there was one that had caught her eye and that was the one of Grissom and Keepler. It had caught her attention for some reason, but she didn't know if it was just the fact that she missed her friend or in the back of her mind she knew that it was important. Regardless of how it had caught her attention though, another fact attacked her mind.

"Grissom was gone on his sabbatical," Catherine suddenly blurted out.

Seeming that this point came out of no where, Nick was obviously confused. "What do you mean?"

"That's why January 2007 is missing, it doesn't exist. Grissom left for his sabbatical and Keepler took his place," Catherine explained with a rather large smile on her face, proud of herself for piecing together this one minor mystery.

"Well what does that prove?"

"That Greg wasn't his original target. From what we have from just this crate, there aren't any pictures for January, of you or me or Greg, and especially not Grissom. And why was this, because Grissom, Calvin's original target, he wasn't here. Plus with this crate alone, there were only seven pictures of Greg, but even if we put all the pictures with Greg in them together, there are still far more pictures of Grissom even in just a month. It's like Greg wasn't anything to Calvin."

"If there's one thing that I am getting from this, it's that Calvin was severely stalking Grissom. There is no doubt in my mind that Grissom was the original target in all of this," Nick stated, though it was already known.

"That's obvious, but why the switch? Why did he choose to target Greg?"

Nick didn't have the answer to Catherine's question, though he wished he did. Though holding hope, he still believed that they would be able to find at least part of the answer in the pictures. Turning his attention back to the photos neatly spread along the table, it began to study them, though putting more of a focus on later files. Catherine was doing the same thing as well, trying to piece together what was offered to her, though she wasn't having really any luck at all.

"I know why the files stopped in January," Nick had then said out of the blue, but it was enough to fully get Catherine's attention. "That was when Grissom left."

Hearing Nick say this, it completely made sense to her, but what didn't was the determination that she knew Calvin possessed. "That makes sense but, I mean he stalked Grissom for four years Nick. Calvin doesn't seem like the person who would give up on something that he had been working on for four years all because someone moved."

"Well you asked why the switch. Calvin's target switched because Grissom moved. Why Greg then became his target, I don't know."

"It just seems almost too simple though, don't you think?"

"It doesn't matter how simple it was, it's the facts. I mean even from what Lauryn told you, the timeline fits."

When Nick had mentioned Lauryn, Catherine was then reminded of one of the leads that Lauryn had given them, and it was their one solid connection to Calvin. "Wait, what about Aaron?"

"Aaron Richards?" Nick asked for a conformation.

Catherine merely nodded her head. "In 2004 Aaron was arrested and then killed in prison," she reminded Nick. Though as she also reminded herself of this lead, with the new information that her and Nick had managed to piece together, facts were finally beginning to come together. "What if this is why Calvin targeted Grissom."

"You think Grissom worked the case or something?" Nick suggested.

"He probably did as it's a reasonable explanation for why Calvin chose to originally target him," said Catherine, agreeing with him.

"Well that makes sense, but why did he then target Greg? Calvin seems too methodical for Greg to be just a random victim."

"And I doubt he is. I mean there's the whole connection that Greg obviously has to Grissom, but then why didn't he kidnap either of us. This is completely personal to Calvin and it's apparent that he had thought through every possible detail of it. Greg was chosen for a reason and I honestly don't think it's something as simple as the fact that he knew Grissom."

"I'll bet Greg signifies something," Nick then stated.

When Nick said this, she gave him a mild blank stare, as hearing him say what she basically just said, she found it somewhat irritating. Though it was his phrasing of it that had actually assisted her in putting together two more vital puzzle pieces together. "Remember in the first video, at the end Calvin said that he'll give us the chance that we never gave _him_? What if _him _is Aaron?"

Hearing Catherine and remembering this part in the video, Nick had then concluded by what Catherine meant by her logical conclusion. "So Calvin is going to give us the chance that we never gave Aaron?"

"Lauryn told me that she remembers Calvin talking to her parents when Aaron was arrested. Calvin apparently kept saying that he knew his brother was innocent," Catherine explained, letting her partner in on another piece of helpful information.

"Well what if he was? Maybe that is why Calvin is doing this; to avenge his brother's death."

"It makes sense, all in all, but there are still gasps. The main one being why did Calvin specifically choose to kidnap Greg?"

"Right now, there are two people that are tying this whole thing together, Grissom and Aaron. If we're gonna get some serious answers, the next thing to look into is going to be Aaron Richards case file."

"Then we should go and take a look at it now."

A new solid lead to follow up on, Nick and Catherine without hesitation went to leave the layout room and were off to retrieve Aaron's case file from his death, but the two of them were instantly stopped in their place when they heard a glorious sound of terror. Nick's head had snapped around instantly and his eyes became firmly fixed on Greg's cell phone, which was ringing. With a turn on his heel, Nick immediately went to grab the phone and as he approached it, for the sake of habit, Nick looked at the clock and saw it was 5:00 PM. He knew that it wasn't coincidental that someone just happened to be calling Greg's phone at 5:00 PM, he knew exactly who was on the other end of the phone call.

As he picked up the phone and as he saw that the caller I.D. read a private number, a thick gulp knotted in his throat. All at once, a vast range of emotions attacked him making him feel completely overwhelmed. There was one thing that he knew he had to do though, and that was that he had to remain calm, especially if there was at least any chance that he could convince Calvin to let him talk to Greg. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Nick slowly flipped open Greg's cell phone and put it to his ear, and with a steady exhale, he then cautiously questioned the person who was on the other line. "Calvin?"

"It's good to hear from you Nick," the cruel, familiar voice hissed on the other line.

As soon as he heard the toying coo in his voice, an agonizing wave of emotions hit Nick. Everything in him wanted to full blown unleash his anger upon Calvin and give him the earful that he deserved to hear, but he had to try his hardest to restrain himself from doing that. Too much was on the line at this moment and it was his conscience reminding him of this that had kept him in check. Swallowing his pride, Nick simply replied with a complete lack of emotion, "Likewise." It was a pseudo response, used to merely respond to him, nothing more.

Calvin laughed upon what Nick had said, not shy to mock him in the least. It had humored him, the control that Nick had posed to have over his emotions, and it was obvious that he was trying to prove this, as his response, it was pathetic to hear. Calvin wanted to talk to the real Nick Stokes, he wanted to rattle the CSI and bring him to the edge of tolerance that he knew he was mere steps from crossing. "Awww Nicky, see I have a feeling that right now, I am the last person on this whole god damn planet that you really wanna talk to. Putting on a fake smile isn't going to hide those feelings from me, I can guaran-damn-tee you that."

With Calvin's reply, it was taking every last strand of will power for him not to unleash his true wrath on Calvin. All he could do was clench his jaw, grit his teeth, and try to come up with a calm and collective response for the taunting bastard on the other line. "You're right Calvin; I don't want to talk to you. Then why don't you let me talk to Greg."

"You certainly know how to get right to your point," Calvin said with a mock laugh in his voice.

The mockery in his voice along with his snide response, Nick had finally reached a point where he couldn't entirely tolerate his smug arrogance. "Well I sure as shit don't want to talk to you anymore," Nick had then spat out. It wasn't a full blown outburst, but it was enough for him to feel content with the sanity that he still held onto. The fact still remained though that it was an outburst, and he didn't know how Calvin was going to respond to it.

Had Nick known it, a big fat grin became plastered on Calvin's face. "Now, isn't that better? We're finally getting a little emotion out of you Nicky, but I'm sure that's not all that you want to say to me, is it?"

Nick remained silent. With releasing what he allowed him self too, it was almost as if just that was too much. It wasn't what he said that had crossed a line, but it was what he had allowed himself to say. Calvin was right, that what he had said, it wasn't all that he wanted to say. There was part of him that began to realize that Calvin would practically get a satisfaction out of him and an outburst, so to remain in the best position, Nick passively remained silent.

Upon hearing Nick's silence was disappointing to Calvin, but it still didn't stop him from trying to light Nick's fire. "Pathetic," Calvin smugly scuffed know that this would be enough to set Nick on edge, and his assumption instantly proved to be true.

"No what's pathetic is what you're doing to Greg you sadistic bastard! He doesn't deserve any of this!" Nick screamed back at Calvin, careless as to how he was going to respond.

It was simply pleasant to get a feel for Nick's anger, but still it wasn't enough for him. "It's all for a reason Nick," Calvin cooed with a malicious grin.

Nick was about ready to scream back at Calvin, but as he felt Catherine's hand touch his own, it reminded him that he needed to remain in control of his emotions which he then realized he was beginning to lose his power over them. With what Calvin had said though, it was really hard for him to remain passive in this moment. It was taking everything within him not to scream back at Calvin and demand his reasoning for doing what he did to Greg in the video, but he knew if he confronted Calvin with this question, it would be taking him on a very dangerous path. It not only would be a daring release of anger on his own part, but he had a feeling that it would also give Calvin satisfaction, which he didn't want to give him anymore then what he has already received. Unknown to him for what he should do, Nick remained silent.

With Nick's silence, Calvin knew that Nick was merely trying to restrain himself from really giving him the earful that he longed to hear. This had upset Calvin though, as he didn't get the reaction that he wanted, but he knew it was a task of mere child's play to get a reaction out of Nick, and he knew precisely how to exact this task. Calvin already knew exactly what Nick wanted to say to him, so he flawlessly set up the opportunity for him to give a sublime release. "Let me ask you this, what did you think of the package that I left you?"

It was taking every strand of eternal strength within him to remain calm at this moment. It seemed like a near impossible task for Nick as he didn't know how he would be able to control himself with Calvin intentionally misleading the mention of the most fragile component of this entire thing. Frustration was attacking him and he felt on the verge of tears, but once again, he remained silent.

Being denied an outburst from Nick yet again, his lack of a response was beginning to irritate Calvin. Though there was one other thing that he thought of that would without a doubt inspire Nick to fully submit to his control in this moment. "You know Nick; I think I should have Greg let you know how I feel about people ignoring me."

* * *

From where Greg was sitting, there was a work bench that had sat no more then a few feet from him. Calvin had set the phone down on this very bench and put it on speaker before he returned his attention back to Greg.

Only hearing the conversation from one point of view, it didn't sound to Greg that the conversation was going that well. There were a couple times when he had heard faint yelling coming from the other end of the phone and he assumed it was from Nick, which hadn't surprised him. With the words that Calvin had just said though, it set Greg's mind back into a fearful position. It sounded as if Calvin was going to teach Nick a lesson, and he was going to use him to do it

Greg didn't know what was going on at this moment, but when Calvin turned around to face him, there was a look in his eyes that was far too familiar to be able to keep his mind at ease and hoping for the better in this moment. Greg saw the look of sadistic rapture in his eyes, the very look that he will never forget.

With his breathing becoming hitched and terror taking over the look in his own eyes, Greg hesitantly questioned Calvin as he approached him with a malicious grin. "Calvin, what are you doing?"

Calvin walked up to Greg, staring at him in his remarkable horror-stricken eyes, and calmly explained, "Nick needs to know what happens when he doesn't answer me."

"What?" Greg asked with confusion, but the sense of confusion was obliterated once he saw Calvin reaching for his jeans once again. "Wait, Calvin, NO! STOP! PLEASE!" Greg began to plead in agony.

"Tell Nick to answer me," Calvin then demanded as his hand came mere inches from touching the hem of his jeans.

At the moment, Greg was completely petrified that he was going to once again be a victim to one of Calvin's degrading assaults that out of desperation, he started to buck his body in his chair, but when Calvin managed to grab a hold of his ankles, he held them down and seized his control back over Greg. Without skipping a beat, he was then able to unbutton Greg's jeans once again and he then screamed back at Greg, "Tell Nick to answer me!

With Calvin's hand inches away from being able to violate him again, it didn't even take a sense of thought or consideration when it came to obeying Calvin. "Nick, please answer him!" Greg desperately screamed to his friend on the other line.

* * *

Nick was completely shaken up by what he was hearing on the other line. As soon as he heard Greg begin to yell, it was as if his mind just went blank and he wasn't able to coherently process a single word that was coming out of anyone's mouth. That changed though once he heard Greg's desperate screaming, but when he went to answer Calvin, he was cut off by Greg and his heart-wrenching cries. "NO! CALVIN NO, NO! PLEASE, DON'T! NOT AGAIN, PLEASE!"

All at once, it had suddenly clicked with Nick what was going on, what was happening to Greg. With rage consuming every emotion within him, Nick finally screamed back into the phone, "YOU SADISTIC BASTARD, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU TOUCH HIM AGAIN I'LL-!"

"YOU'LL WHAT!" Calvin then screamed back over the phone cutting Nick off. "Seriously Nick, what the hell can you do to help Greg right now? Nothing! I can do exactly what I did to him on that video, all over again if I really wanted to, and you can't do a damn thing about that."

Nick felt like this was the moment when he was finally put into his place in this whole situation. It didn't matter what he did, he could yell, he could curse, he could tell Calvin what he wanted to hear, he didn't even have to say a single god damn word, the fact remained the same. Nick had about as much control in this situation as an innocent insect that was caught in a spider's web did.

Nick had then heard Greg over the phone again, helplessly pleading between sobs, "Calvin… please… stop… plea… se." Nick desperately wanted to do something to help Greg, but in reality, there wasn't a damn thing that he could do, except listen to the agony. But still, within, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Regardless if his words went unheard, just like Greg's, he made the same desperate plea that Greg did. "Calvin, please don't. Just stop… please," Nick begged with his voice breaking and his eyes on the verge of tears.

Hearing Nick's escalate in anger and then his breakdown to a pathetic sense of nothing, it was a sensational reaction. "I want you to answer my question. What did you think of the package that I left you?" Calvin asked, returning his attention to the original focus that had then lead to the emotional episode.

Regardless if he had any control in this situation, it did absolutely nothing to prevent Nick from releasing a simple comment with a bold representation. "You're an inhumane fuck," he cursed, his voice seething with anger.

"Well thank you," Calvin firstly mocked, taking Nick's vicious words and mutilating them into a compliment. "But seriously," he continued, "I want your opinion on something; the video. What was your favorite part? What about when I cut off Greg's thumb print, genius wasn't it? But then there was the part where he tried to escape and he was then thrown down the stairs because of it. That was a great scene too. But then again, those two put together, it doesn't really compare to what happened in the end now does it?"

It was evident that this whole thing was literally a game to Calvin, from playing with their emotions to controlling their beings. Nick felt as he was now being brought to a point where it almost didn't seem worth it to talk to Greg if it meant he had to put up with all this emotional agony. His thumb was beginning to painfully hover over the end button on the phone as he desperately wished he could disconnect the call and discontinue the taunting facts… but he knew that he couldn't. If he did, he knew that it would feel like he was abandoning Greg, and that was something that he was refusing to do.

Turning his attention back to Calvin, despite the fact that he was asked a question, he couldn't bring himself to answer the disgusting sadist on the other line. Like he had told himself before, he had to watch what he said to Calvin, but now, the limit had been set. There wasn't a limit that he could cross when it came to what he said to Calvin, but there was a point where what he said, it would bring Calvin a sense of satisfaction, which was something that he strictly wanted to avoid. Simply replying to him for the mere sake of it, Nick weakly begged once again, "Calvin please stop it."

Hearing another indirect answer, it put Calvin's frustration on edge again. Though he loved toying with people, he didn't like the action returned upon him, whether it was Nick's intention or not. "I want to know what you were thinking when you were watching that video?" he forcefully demanded. To then once again persuade Nick into answering him, Calvin had unfortunately fixed his attention on Greg.

Nick knew that there was one vital part that Calvin was hinting about when he had demanded his response, but Nick still couldn't answer him. Over the phone though, he had then heard a quick gasp and a staggered whimper that fully got Nick's attention once again and got him to answer Calvin. "I didn't watch it."

With what Nick had said, it as well fully got Calvin's attention. He knew that he heard Nick correctly, but he didn't believe him in the least with what he was telling him. "Don't lie to me Nick."

"I'm not lying," Nick firmly corrected, holding to his pride for the fact that he truly didn't watch the part of the video that he knew Calvin desperately wanted him to see. "I watched the video but turned it off. I know what you did to him, I don't need to watch it," he valiantly said.

Knowing this, Calvin had felt a sense of defeat, this was something that he wanted to hold over Nick, but he had clearly taken this chance away from him. For the first time, Calvin didn't know how to respond to Nick, so remained silent.

Upon hearing Calvin's silence, Nick was surprised. It didn't take much for him to realize that he for once had the upper hand on something and it was immensely proud that he had the power over this. "I'm not going to give you that satisfaction. I refuse to watch you degrade Greg like that. It's already one thing that you did it, but to record it, that takes a certain type of sick fuck to do that, and you fit the bill. I know you recorded it because you wanted us to see what we could have prevented, but I already know that. I don't need to have documentation like that to prove it."

Calvin was honestly, and regretfully, believing Nick, until he said one thing. The final words that he had said in the video, _'And that is what you could have prevented'_, hearing Nick then repeat them, it seemed far too conspicuous that he had used the very words that he did, but he claimed that he didn't watch the video. To Calvin, it didn't matter if Nick was telling the truth or lying, he now had his own theory which had provided him with the perfect opportunity for him to painfully mess with Greg once again. "Well, we both know the truth Nick, and Greg deserves to know it as well."

At these words, the pride that Nick held in himself was slowly starting to disintegrate. The influence that Calvin possessed over Greg was remarkably strong. Whatever Calvin was going to say, whether it was the actual truth or some distorted lie, Nick knew it was going to take its toll on Greg.

"Nick watched the video," Calvin firstly said informing Greg. Calvin was studying Greg at this moment, and when he said this, instantly Calvin could see the emotion in his sorrow eyes begin to change. They began to contort into a look of disbelief, but there was also the look of shame. Seeing this reaction, it was exactly what Calvin wanted to see as Greg's mind set. With a cold stare and a haunting voice, Calvin finally delivered the truth behind this fact. "He saw what I did to you."

The second that Nick heard the bull shit that was coming out of Calvin's mouth, Nick instantly started to scream into the phone, begging for Greg to not believe him. "NO GREG, NO! NO I DIDN'T! I DIDN'T WATCH THE VIDEO GREG!" This was exactly what he didn't want on Greg's conscience, but Calvin saw this golden opportunity to contort the truth into something that was vile and shameful, and that is what he did. At this point, he could only hope that Greg would believe him over Calvin, but with his words that followed, he obliterated any chance of that.

Nick's words were the perfect fuel for his fire, and felt he was now in a superb position to completely break Greg down. "Now listen to him Greg, feeding you more lies. First he promised that he would save you, but even when he was in my house, and you were in the basement, he couldn't even save you then. But now, he's bold face lying to me, AND TO YOU, his best friend, and he's saying that he didn't watch me rape you. You know what he thinks of you right? He thinks your pathetic! The way you just laid there and took it, you didn't even try to fight back. You know why he's lying to you? It's because he's just trying to cover up the fact that he will _never_ be able to look at you the same way ever again."

After what Calvin had said, Nick realized that he had officially lost all control in this situation. Calvin took everything that he was standing for, and completely ripped it to shreds. Calvin took him, Greg's only ally in this, his support system, and turned it against him. Calvin took this opportunity that he had and completely used it to his advantage. All of a sudden, Nick realized that he became the bad guy, and there was nothing that he could do at this moment to change that.

"Nick, you know, maybe I should call back. Greg's far too fragile to be lied to right now, I mean, he's crying again. Perhaps now just isn't a good time," Calvin then cleverly taunted over the phone.

"NO!" Nick viciously snapped to Calvin, in a demanding tone. Right now, Nick felt as if he was losing everything, but this chance that he had to talk to Greg, he was not going to lose it. "Do not hang up this god damn phone! Right now is a perfect time and he's crying to him because you're lying to him!"

"Nick, I'd watch your tone with me right now okay," Calvin warned hearing a tone from Nick that he could challenge with a cruel quip, but instead he returned that same forcefulness and enforced it with a threat. "You know why I called you; because Greg wanted to talk to you. That was his request and I said sure. It's on my terms though if I allow this to go through though. Right now, I'm leaning more towards no."

Nick was silent for a second, completely overwhelmed by this information. "Calvin, please let me talk to Greg. Please," Nick then pleaded with tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

"Let me ask him," Calvin then said, taking another one of his chances to simply mess with Nick.

With feeling overwhelmed with this information and his emotions, Calvin's mockery was the last thing that he felt he could tolerate at this moment. "Calvin just put him on god dammit; he wants to talk to me!" Nick firmly ordered.

Hearing Nick's tone once again, it had almost angered Calvin, but before he spoke, he then saw another opportunity to fully mess with the distraught CSI. "Are you so sure?" his voice played. "Remember, that was before Greg realized that you're embarrassed of him," Calvin said, putting himself in the position to get the last word.

Nick wanted to scream back the truth at Calvin, but he realized that that was what Calvin wanted. Nick had been blindly led into a no win situation and was now forced to remain passive and quiet. Regardless if he had to remain in a position where he couldn't do anything, he still wanted to get the truth out once again, even if it would only reach his ears. "I didn't watch the video," he whispered to himself in defeat.

"Do you want to talk to Nick Greg? I mean, you know he's just going to give you the pity treatment, right?" Calvin asked, still continuing to twist Nick's words and feelings into something that he knew would intimidate Greg.

There was a part of Greg that knew Calvin's words weren't true as it didn't sound like Nick in the least, but the other part of him was falling victim to those very words. The more that Calvin said them, the more that Greg was beginning to believe them. Was Nick truly ashamed of him? Regardless of the fact that he was unsure of the answer, there was without a doubt a part of him that was now afraid to talk to Nick, but the other part of him had reminded him of how badly he really did want to talk to him. Though it had taken him a moment to make up his mind, Greg finally had his decision. Looking at Calvin, he nodded his head and brokenly replied, "Yes."

"Well Nick," Calvin solemnly said and followed the woeful introduction with silence, once again playing another mind game. "I guess Greg wants to talk to you." As soon as he said this, Calvin heard over the phone a heavy sigh which he knew was filled with relief. "I want you to give me a minute though, alright," Calvin then informed before he set the phone down.

Hearing this, Nick didn't entirely know how to respond. The most that happened was that his jaw dropped in surprise as he was genuinely shocked when he comprehended that Calvin was actually going to give the phone to Greg to let him talk to him. This was the first time that he was finally going to be able to talk to Greg since his abduction. Despite all the crap that he had put up with while talking to Calvin, having now this opportunity, it was completely worth it to him.

"What's going on Nick," Catherine asked.

"Calvin's letting me talk to Greg," stated Nick with a smile on his face and shock in his eyes.

Catherine felt just as surprised as Nick was with this information and couldn't help but hug him at this small yet great triumph. "That's terrific," she said with a smile on her face and tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Though she was excited to hear this great news, she had returned their attention to the seriousness of this situation. "Hey, I was thinking, we should get Archie to trace the call."

Hearing Catherine suggest this, though it would be a great idea in any other situation, Nick simply turned to her and gave her a doubtful look.

"What?" she asked, confused by Nick's awkward response.

"Do you really think, that after all they have done to keep us from knowing where they are, that they're going to casually slip up by using a non-disposable phone?" mused Nick.

"It's still worth a try. Every criminal slips up now or later, right?" Catherine then reasoned with a glisten of hope in her spirit.

Upon her reasoning, Nick wasn't really in any position to argue her thinking. She was right in saying that it was worth a try as it wasn't like they had anything to lose and it sure as hell wouldn't hurt to try. With a nod of his head, he and Catherine had then quickly made their way down to the A/V lab.

Entering Archie's lab, it didn't even dawn on him that there could be a possibility that he could still be processing the second video, and this carelessness is what sent him walking straight up to a visual of the very moment that he desperately wanted to avoid.

Seeing that it was Nick who had entered his lab, Archie instantly went to pause the video and hoped for at lest Nick's sake that he didn't catch too much of the video, as looking at him, he seemed far too emotional traumatized to handle something that was this personal and this vivid.

"Archie, we have Greg on the phone, we need you to run a trace now," Catherine boldly demanded as she walked into the A/V lab after Nick.

The moment that she saw the screen before her though, it was as if time simply stopped. She was instantly thankful to Nick for preventing her from watching the video, as the still frame image as almost too much for her to handle. Looking at Greg, it was evident that he was looking straight into the camera. It was as if he was looking directly and specifically at them. His eyes were empty and tear stained and begging for a reprieve, begging for help. Had they known it, this was in fact the first moment when Greg had actually looked into the camera, and it was upon doing this that he was in fact begging for their help. Nick and Catherine both knew that they would never look at Greg differently after this or judge him in any way, but for the time being, this was one look that they could not get out of their minds.

Archie could see that they were both were intimidated by the sight before them as it had distracted them from the importance of their task at hand. Distracting them from the sight before them, Archie got their attention and asked, "So you guys want me to run a trace?" he confirmed as he began to pull out the cords needed for this task.

The distraction had worked as now both Nick and Catherine took a seat next to Archie and fixed their eyes on anything other then the screen in front of them. Nick had then handed the phone to Archie who instantly began to attach some cords to the needed areas. It took only a few seconds for Archie to begin tracing the call and the only thing that the three of them could do was wait.

* * *

Before Calvin passed over the phone to Greg, he wanted to take a minute to confirm an understanding between him and his captive. "So I'm really going to let you talk to Nick alright. I don't care what it is, but if you say something that I don't like, you're done. Is that clear?"

Greg heard Calvin and completely understood him, but as he processed what Calvin was saying, his mind brought him into a deep though. He instantly began to question himself, wondering it there could be anything that he could tell Nick or if there was anything that Nick could tell him. Whatever the answer was though, Greg didn't entirely know of a way that he could communicate information like this with Nick with out Calvin catching him doing so.

Calvin stood there for a second, waiting for a response from Greg, but upon receiving nothing more then a blank stare he asked the question once again. "Do you understand me Greg?" Calvin once again waited for a response from Greg, but seeing the exact same, unfazed blank stare, Calvin instantly grew agitated. With a forceful punch to Greg's stomach, he then repeated the same question once again while yelling at Greg, "Do you understand me?"

The punch to his stomach had automatically forced him to double over as his beaten body attempted to bare the pain, and upon Calvin's forceful demand for an answer, Greg finally answered him. "Yes!" he managed to gasp out as he attempted to catch his breath.

"What was that?" Calvin then asked Greg, purposefully toying with him as a natural response.

"I said yes! Just let me talk to Nick please!" Greg automatically responded, screaming at Calvin, exposing his ultimate state of frustration.

* * *

With their eyes firmly glued to the phone and their ears trained to listen for a voice, when they finally heard the silence discontinue and when they heard yelling over the phone, Nick immediately snatched the phone and began screaming into it, demanding Calvin's attention. "Calvin you son-of-a-bitch, leave Greg alone!"

"Nick, what did I say earlier? Don't lose your temper, or you could lose this one chance to talk to Greg," he threatened Nick knowing that he would put him attitude back in check. As he was waiting for an anticipated passive response from him though, Calvin had then heard a new presence present them selves over the phone.

"I can't get a trace," Calvin heard the A/V tech announce, and hearing this, he wasn't shy in the least to blurt out a completely over exaggerated laugh. "Wow, you really thought that I would be as careless as to slip up and not use a disposable phone?" he laughed with a smug expression of shock on his face. "I have to say, that's rich."

Nick didn't exactly have anything to say to Calvin. At this point, Calvin held all the cards and it wasn't even worth the breath to defend himself to him. Even if he tried to, Nick knew that he would manage to once again twist the truth and turn his pride into shame. The only thing that he could do at this moment was sit there, swallow his pride and bite his tongue, and allow Calvin to walk over his emotions.

"Anyway, after having a small talk with Greg, I'm sure he now knows to be cautious of what he says, though I'm sure that he's smart enough to know what to say, and most importantly, what not to say. Just keep in mind though; I dictate when this conversation ends."

Calvin had then removed the phone from his ear and had then held it up to Greg's. Nick could then clearly hear the could of shaky and unsteady breathing on the other line which was then followed but the attempt to stifle a whimper, which was a sound that had turned Nick's veins to ice. The voice that followed, it was Calvin's for the final time, and as he said, "Here Greg, talk to Nicky," Nick knew that this was the cue and the conformation. Nick sat there, unknowingly holding his breath as he waited to hear Greg's voice.

At that moment, Nick finally heard a very faint voice. The first thing that Nick had taken to notice was that the voice, it sounded beaten, lifeless, and completely broken. "Ni… Nick?"

* * *

Sorry guys but I had to leave you with a cliffhanger. Originally, the conversation between Nick and Greg was apart of this chapter, but after editing this one, it ended up getting so long that I had to move that part to the next chapter. But because that scene is already written, the chapter 21 update won't take a month again.

So, expressing my gratitude to my readers…

Thank you to What'sItAllAbout and DragonFriend95 for adding my story to their favorites list.

For alerting, many thanks to What'sItAllAbout, ilovemiax, and DragonFriend95.

And finally, thank you VisionX23, crimescenelover, Greggo-123, and Tracy for reviewing. I also REALLY want to thank WMG, JodsRaine, shellygirl34, abby, and DragonFriend95 for their reviews. I was really surprised so see your reviews and I really love and appreciate you guys taking a moment to answer my question and you made incredible attempts to piece together the mess of information that you received. Some of your responses were dead on, some were headed in the right direction, and others were completely wrong, but I still appreciated the attempt. Thank you guys so much and I hope that I can get more reviews like this in the near future :D!

Thanks to everyone for reading!


	21. Confidence vs Cockiness

Alright, so heads up, this is without a doubt a shorter chapter, but I don't think it will disappoint. The reason for the shortened chapter is because as I was editing this chapter, I found that perfectly evil spot to end this chapter and leave you guys with an agonizing cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I also left a question for you guys regarding it to leave in a review, so be sure to take the time to answer it.

So yeah, here we go… Chapter 21!

* * *

**Chapter 21: ****Confidence vs. Cockiness **

The first syllable that he heard broke Nick to the core of his emotions. It almost felt like he was listening to a ghost. Part of it was due to the fact that he almost didn't believe that Greg was still alive, but the other part was due to the fact that Greg sounded so lifeless on the phone, just empty of a soul. The sorrow that he felt though, he could admit that it was over shadowed by the joy that he felt when he heard Greg. It was the first time that he was able to talk to him since the abduction and through all the emotional turmoil that has occurred, it did offer a glimmer of hope to hear that Greg was still there.

Nick was speechless at first, not exactly knowing what to say to Greg at this point. After a moment of choking on words that he couldn't coherently form in his mind, Nick was finally able to spit out a few words of truth and happiness. "Greggo," he firstly said as a habit, but almost broke to tears as he used his nickname. "I'm so happy to hear your voice man."

"I'm happy to hear your voice too Nick," Greg said just to answer Nick. He was genuinely happy to hear Nick and to talk to him, but never had he been more terrified or intimidated. Calvin's crude words about what Nick really though of him, they had already begun to haunt his mind. Regardless if the words were true, the hurt behind them was real. The fact of it all though was that Nick had watched the video, which meant that he saw what Calvin did to him. As he was attempting to talk to Nick now, he only felt embarrassed and ashamed.

With the lifelessness in Greg's tone and his lack of a response, Nick knew that there was something wrong with Greg, besides the obvious fact. Nick had figured that if Greg was the one to request to talk to him, he assumed that he would show a little more liveliness and joy in getting this opportunity. Instead Greg had just shut down. Nick had a feeling that he knew why this was, and though he wanted to confront if this was the problem, he didn't want to pry into something that he wasn't sure if Greg would be able to handle being brought up. Instead, he decided to ask a simple question. "How you holding up?" he asked with a warm, comforting spirit in his voice.

The question was stupid in Greg's opinion. For one it sounded like a pathetic small-talk conversation starter, but Greg also felt pathetic realizing that there was no way that he could really answer it. He didn't want to be bluntly honest and admit that he really wasn't doing well at all, but he also didn't want Nick to worry. "I'm alright, I guess," he said, respectfully lying to Nick.

As Calvin heard this, he knew that Greg was just trying to protect Nick from really knowing the truth, but instead, he decided to excuse the in depth perception and focus on the general fact that Greg had lied. With another unexpected punch to Greg's beaten stomach which had caused him to double over, Calvin then hissed into Greg's ear, "You know Greg; it's not polite to lie to your friends, especially when you lie to them right in front of me. Might I remind you about the last time that you lied," he said with an evil laugh and a sinful grin as he began to trace his fingers along the burnt letters in his captive's chest.

Hearing Calvin's vile voice was one thing, but it was another thing to hear Greg's fearful whimpers. It had killed him to hear his friend at a point of utter and complete terror and weakness. Nick knew exactly why Greg had lied to him though and he figured that if he was in the same situation, he probably would have done the same thing. But the repercussions obviously proved to be far more painful, physically and mentally, than just blatantly admitting the truth would have been. Nick was silent for a moment, as if waiting for Greg to say the next word, but when he clearly heard his shaky breathing through the phone, it seemed obvious that Greg was too terrified to even speak. Coming to this conclusion, Nick then started to talk into the phone. "Greg, listen man. I don't care what you say alright, I'm not going to judge you or anything, but say what you need to say to keep him happy. Don't piss him off and hurt yourself anymore okay."

With Nick's words, it made him feel completely venerable and helpless which had then made him feel utterly pathetic. Greg was almost beginning to regret asking if he could talk to Nick as right now, with everything feeling as if it was gaining up on him, he couldn't bare the emotional strength needed to continue with the conversation. "I can't… I can't do this," he brokenly admitted as a tear trickled out of the corner of his eyes.

"You can't what, talk to me?" Nick asked, surprised to hear Greg say this.

"Yes," Greg admitted to once again, his voice breaking and his emotions a wreck.

Nick knew that Greg was completely emotionally unstable at this moment, and that is why he feared asking him his next question. Nick knew exactly why Greg was having a hard time talking to him, and that was due to Calvin's falsely accused facts that he had planted to solely fester Greg's mind, which had proved to be a successful tactic on his part. There was only one way to solve this problem, and that was to confront it, which he didn't know if Greg could handle. Regardless though, talking to Greg at this moment could very well be the only moment that he may have to talk to him, and he wasn't going to allow Greg to be the one to bail on this opportunity.

"Greg, why don't you want to talk to me? I mean, I know you asked to talk to me, but now you just want to quit? Look I know this is rough for both of us, but Greg, please; I need you to stay on the phone. Just tell me what's wrong," Nick calmly encouraged.

Having Nick now confront him on his emotional distress, it wasn't something that he really wanted to discuss at this moment. But hearing Nick beg him to stay on the phone, he realized that there wasn't really anything that he could do other then answer him. "Did… did you watch the video?" Greg hesitantly asked.

A heavy sigh left Nick as he heard Greg ask him this question. He knew that this was the problem, and though it was a painful subject, he was at least happy that he now had the chance to clear it up and reveal the truth. "Greg, please don't believe a single god damn word that Calvin said to you. He completely twisted my words. There is one truth and that is the fact that I did watch the video, but I didn't watch the ending. I knew what was going to happen; I don't need to see it." Nick had then stopped for a second. There was more that he wanted to say but he didn't know if his words would be too much for Greg to handle. He already knew how broken Greg was, and he didn't want to potentially damage what remained of it.

"Why did you stop it?" Greg quietly asked.

There was a simple answer to this whole thing, but Nick knew it wouldn't be enough to suffice. Though it could potentially be extremely harsh on the emotions, Nick had concluded that approaching the emotional demon head on was going to be the best way, and with a deep breath, he finally confessed the reality to Greg. "Honestly, I know you're ashamed. There is no defense to that. If Catherine and I, if we watched the whole thing, we know you would be embarrassed around us. You would feel that we would be looking at you as the friend who got violated, and we don't want you looking at us as the friends who watched it happen. I know you were stripped of your dignity, and I refused to diminish what remains of it. That's something that you need to hold on to Greg. That's the fight in you; you can't just give it up." By the end of his speech, what Nick though was going to be a painful confession, he realized that it ended up being rather uplifting.

Greg didn't see the confidence that Nick had in him though. Greg felt the truth within, and it wasn't anywhere near as valiant. "It a lot easier just to give up though," Greg then brokenly admitted, now revealing the true weakness that he felt within.

Nick's heart dropped at Greg's response. It was finally the bluntly stated reality of how lost his friend truly was from himself. Though the comment did fill his own heart with sorrow, it didn't stop Nick from trying to reach out to the small glimmer of hope that he knew Greg still possessed. "Greg, don't say that, please. Listen, what little I know about what's happened to you, what all you've endured, I'll tell you right now that there is now way that I would have been able to hold out for this long, and I don't even know the half of what you've gone through. You have no idea how proud Catherine and I are to know that you're still alive. To know that you haven't given up hope, it's given us hope."

"What if I have given up hope though?"

"I don't believe that," Nick proudly protested, doubting this fact 100%. "Calvin said that you asked to talk to us. I don't think you would have done that if you didn't have hope for at least something. Tell me, why'd you want to talk you us?"

"I wanted to see if you were as lost as I am," Greg first explained. There was more that he wanted to say though but he didn't know if he should. He didn't know if it was best to fully reveal how lost he really was, from hope, from sanity, from even living. As this inner realization finally caught up with his awareness though, his weaknesses gave in and he finally released these very feeling that he was trying to hide. "I'm just hoping you aren't lost though because I feel like I'm completely fucked," Greg hopelessly admitted.

Nick felt Greg's sense of hopelessness when he said this, but he was once again trying to see the hope in the situation. "See, you still have hope, and it's being held in the right place," Nick then assured.

"Then you know where I'm at," Greg brokenly asked, his voice begging for the uplifting answer that he longed to hear.

The subtle grin that was on Nick's face and the hope in his eyes, all at once, it was shattered. It had utterly ripped his heart to shreds when he heard Greg ask this. It was at this point when Nick had begun to question if when Greg had said that he had given up hope, if he was genuinely telling the truth. With his question, he was asking it as if he was taking a gamble with hope again and hoping to receive the answer that was in fact completely far from that truth of the situation. In his heart, he couldn't tell him that though, as the reality was too dismaying. Instead, Nick offered the best answer that he could, though he knew it wasn't going to be good enough for Greg. "We're getting real close, alright Greg. We promise that we're going to find you though. Just keep reminding yourself that we're not going to give up, okay."

Greg had been trying his best not to cry over the phone, but with Nick's answer, all of his emotions gaining up on him, he finally began to let his tears fall once again. It had just completely overwhelmed him to know that they didn't know where he was at and that they weren't on their way to his rescue at this very moment, but at least it did offer some confidence to know that they were at least getting somewhere in finding him. When it came to answering Nick though, he didn't know how to.

Though there weren't any words spoken, Nick could hear Greg's answer regardless as he heard him trying to stifle back his tears. Listening to Greg, he instantly felt as if he was letting him down. It didn't matter how hard he and Catherine were working to try to find him, the fact remained that nothing would be good enough until they had Greg back with them.

"Well, how close are you then?" Greg then ventured to ask, sounding starved for hope.

Once again, Nick found it to be a struggle to answer Greg, but after thinking about his question for a moment, Nick then realized that he could have an opportunity to get some information that could be helpful out of Greg. "Well we have a new lead and it's a pretty solid one right now. Is there anything that you can tell us that you think could possibly help us though?"

Upon Nick's request, Greg's mind just seemed too jumbled and lost at the moment to even consider if there was anything information that he could tell Nick that would help him at this moment. Even if there was anything though, Greg had taken to mind the vicious brute that was holding the phone to his ear and once again questioned himself how he would even be able to give Nick any information without letting Calvin on in anyway. Stuck in a situation and with a lack of an answer in general, Greg simple answered, "I can't."

Greg's answer wasn't a surprise to Nick in the least as he instantly knew why Greg would say this. "Is Calvin right there?" he asked by means of a conformation.

"Sure," Greg casually responded, having it pose as an average answer to Calvin's ear, not one that would alert his attention.

Nick caught on to Greg's passive answer and saw his means behind it. Though with Greg's answer, it had then given Nick an idea. "Well is there anything that you could even try to say that could help us, like something that wouldn't really get Calvin's attention? I mean, don't say anything if you can't Greg; I don't want you to get in trouble. If there is anything though, like seriously, right now, anything could help us," Nick hopefully explained.

Upon Nick's question, Greg began to consider if there was anything that he could tell Nick. Going back to the conversation that he had with Calvin before he had called Nick, he began to go over some of the major moments and comments that Calvin had said. Most of it was a confusing riddle and telling Nick any of it he figured would confuse him just as much as it had confused him, but there was one simple fact that he figured wouldn't be too risky to share.

With a deep breath, he prepared himself to reveal a piece of information that he didn't know how Calvin would respond to it. There wasn't an indirect was that he could inform Nick, so with a hesitant exhale, Greg cautiously said, "I wasn't the original target." It was instantly proven though that his cautious nature was appropriate, as the second after he had told Nick this, the phone was snatched from his ear and the same, strong hand had grasped the sore roots of his hair and ripped his head back. The only thing that he could do was release a stifled gasp and look into Calvin's threatening eyes.

"I thought I told you to be careful about what you said," Calvin hissed as he began to taunt Greg's mind by hovering his thumb over the End button, so to end the phone call. "Why'd you say that?" he then ordered to know.

"Nick asked me a question. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say anything regarding that," Greg blurted out. The fact didn't escape his mind that he had basically threw Nick under the bus, but right now, Greg figured that it was his life in Calvin's hands, not Nick's. "I promise, I won't say another thing, just please don't hang up," Greg begged once again with honest, pleading eyes.

After scrutinizing Greg and judging him and his word, Calvin had then let go of his hair. "One more chance," he said as he put the phone back next to Greg's ear.

Greg nodded his head, acknowledging Calvin firstly, and then turned his attention back to Nick. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah," Nick fearfully answered. The commotion that he heard through the phone had startled him, but he was at least proud to see that Greg had held strong and wasn't rattled by Calvin's intimidating nature. "Are you okay?" Nick then asked in concern.

"I guess," Greg simply answered, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.

Nick was happy to hear that Greg was alright, but he felt bad as he felt like he was the one who caused the pain that had happened to Greg. It had dawned on him that the only way that he was going to get any information out of Greg was if he asked the questions, but he figured that it would be enough to suffice. "Well let me ask you this then okay, because I think this is really important."

"Sure," Greg simply answered once again, as it seemed like the safest answer that would be one to cause much of a suspicious from Calvin.

"Has Calvin mentioned anything to you about someone named Aaron?" Nick then asked, crossing his fingers that Greg would have some information, as he figured that if Greg knew something, anything, he could potentially be the biggest key in Greg's kidnapping, and not only that, but possibly being able to figure out where he is. No Nick's despair though, Greg's answer didn't offer much hope.

"Not really," he replied, once again covering his response with a casual one so to continue the seemingly misleading charade from Calvin.

"He hasn't told you anything at all?" Nick asked again, begging for a different answer and with disappointment in his voice.

Greg caught on to Nick's sense of misfortune and was upset that he couldn't offer Nick anything regarding this person named Aaron. "Not a thing?" he confirmed.

Nick let out a heavy sigh as he realized that there wasn't anything that he was going to be able to get out of Greg regarding Aaron, but he figured that maybe he could at least benefit him. If Aaron did have something to do with his kidnapping, then maybe he could give Greg a few answers that could help him begin to piece together a few facts. "You know, that's fine, but listen," Nick started off saying, making sure that he would fully have Greg's attention. "Catherine and I, we're positive that Aaron has something to do with this. We think that he's why Calvin kidnapped you."

With this information being brought up and answers all of a sudden beginning to present themselves, it was beside Greg to not become ecstatic or intrigued with what Nick had to say. With that same spirit of excitement, Greg then asked, "Well whose Aaron?" Asking this question though, it was a careless move on his part. Forgetting to mind what he said in front of Calvin, it had instantly resulted in a consequential action. The phone was removed from his ear and Calvin's strong hand was then forcefully pressed up against his mouth.

* * *

Nick wasn't surprised to hear that Greg didn't know anything about Aaron, but what had concerned him were the noises that he was beginning to hear on the other line. It sounded like a muffled scuffle, and right as Nick was about to question the sound, a familiar voice had spoken through the phone, and it wasn't Greg. "Aaron is someone that Greg doesn't need to know about," Calvin boldly stated, and before Nick could even consider questioning him, he heard the dial tone. Hearing this, Nick didn't exactly now how to comprehend what had just happened, so he merely sat there was a blank look of shock across his face.

As Catherine began to notice this very look that was on Nick's face, she was intrigued, but also concerned. From her perspective, the conversation seemed to be going decently well, but once she saw Nick's expression, there was something within her that just knew something was off. "What is it Nick?" she cautiously questioned.

He hung up on me," Nick firstly and blandly answered with the same absent look on his face. After hearing his own words though and fully comprehending what he had just said, it brought him from his dazed mental state of oblivion and returned his mentality to the present. With his state of shock and surprise gone, he wasn't shy to release his anger that he felt upon what had happened. "That son-of-a-bitch hung up on me!" he then exclaimed with a look of both frustration and failure in his eyes.

"Why did he hang up?" Catherine then questioned, hoping that Nick had the answer and it wasn't for just the hell of it that Calvin decided to end the phone call.

Fury was surging through him and that rage was all guided by one person, but in a position where he could lash out his frustration, he had to hold onto the control over his emotions once again. After taking a breath, he looked at Catherine and answered her with his conviction that he felt was exceptionally reasonable. "Well I was trying to see if Greg knew anything about Aaron, and he didn't. He then asked me who Aaron was and I was going to tell him, but then Calvin told me that Aaron wasn't anyone that Greg needed to know about. He then hung up the phone," Nick explained.

With Nick's reply, it was pretty much a justifiable explanation for why Calvin would hang up on him. "So Calvin hung up on you because you were talking about Aaron?" Catherine more so stated for the conformation.

"I don't really see there being any other reason," Nick then announced, agreeing with her.

"Then Aaron must have something to do with Greg's kidnapping," Catherine said, conforming her own thinking.

"If he didn't, I think I would still be talking to Greg."

"Well at this moment, I think it would be hard to deny the fact that we basically have a conformation for the fact that Aaron is involved with Greg's kidnapping. It's where we were headed before Calvin called and it where we need to go now. Aaron's involved, we need to look at his case file right now," ordered Catherine as the two of them got up from their seats and left the A/V lab.

* * *

The second after the call was disconnected, the sense of astonishment and confusion had engulfed Greg's mind. The reaction out of Calvin was unexpected, but it dawned on him that there was no way that he would have acted like this if it wasn't for a reason. The clarity of this moment came crashing down on Greg's conscience when he realized that it was because of the name that he said that triggered the reaction. Whoever Aaron was, Nick was obviously right about him having something to do with his kidnapping or else Calvin wouldn't have reacted the way that he did.

When Calvin had finally removed his hand from his mouth, with a turn on his heel and without a second though, he headed toward the door. Instantly realizing that Calvin was leaving the room, it had made Greg's blood boil with both fury and frustration. After his abrupt and questionable actions, to then see him leaving the room without offering an explanation, Greg had denied Calvin the ability to leave and demanded his attention. There wasn't any way that he was going to let Calvin walk out of here without a single answer to this mental chaos.

"Wait, who's Aaron?" Greg asked with a demanding tone.

With his simple yet bold question, Greg knew that it would be enough to get Calvin's attention, and he was correct as he had stopped in his footsteps before he reached the door. When Calvin snapped his head around to look at him though, it was then that Greg became aware of the aggression that Calvin presented in his nature. With menacing eyes and a demented smirk, Calvin viciously retorted, "Didn't you hear me? He's no one that you need to concern yourself with!" Calvin then turned back around and reached for the door knob as he went to leave the room.

With Calvin's passive aggression in his voice, it had confirmed Greg's thoughts. "Nick was right then," he then said to himself, but unfortunately, his voice wasn't quiet enough for it to only reach his ears.

"What did you say?" Calvin forcefully demanded to know after hearing Greg's incoherent, mumbling back-talk.

Greg was surprised to realize that Calvin had indeed heard him, but after seeing the look in Calvin's eyes, he had wished that he just kept his mouth shut. Knowing that he now had to answer Calvin though, he was torn over whether to tell him the truth of what he had said, or challenge him and merely lie by denying the fact that he said anything. "Nothing," Greg cautiously said in a passive voice.

"Don't you lie to me you piece of shit!" Calvin then snapped back in an assertive tone as he approached Greg while pointing at him to emphasize his aggression with his accusatory gesture. "What did Nick say to you?"

With Calvin's intimidating hostility, Greg was once again shaken by him. It was clear that Calvin had heard what he said, but after choosing to play the lying card, it wasn't like he could take it back or anything. Doing that, admitting to his lie, it wasn't anything that was going to benefit him; if anything, it was going to hurt him. Greg figured that at this moment, it would be in his best interest to hold to the lie and play it as the truth. "I swear, Nick didn't tell me anything! Believe me Calv-," he then went on to say to further justify his lie to pose it as the truth, but he didn't get the opportunity to, not after Calvin decided to abruptly cut him off.

"Believe you, I would rather hand you over to Nick at this very god damn moment then believe you! I heard you dumb ass! You said that Nick was right, yet you claim that he didn't tell you anything; it doesn't really add up now does it?" Calvin contradicted while managing to as well as mock Greg's arrogant stupidity. "What did Nick tell you?" Calvin finally asked once again with a look in his eye and a tone in his voice that told Greg to answer him or to expect the worse.

Knowing that he wasn't in a position any longer to carry out a revealed lie, there really was only one other option for Greg. Telling the truth and exposing what little information he got from Nick was the only thing he could do. "Nick told me that he thinks Aaron has something to do with why you kidnapped me," he admitted with a heavy sigh and a shamed look on his face.

"Is there anything else?" Calvin then asked, his voice both skeptical and demanding, as he had a feeling there was more that Greg knew that he wasn't telling him.

While shaking his head, Greg simply and truthfully replied, "No."

With Greg's response, there was a part of Calvin that had immediately doubted his words, especially after realizing that he had pathetically attempted to lie to him yet again. But when Calvin had looked into Greg's eyes, there wasn't a look in them that was trying to convince him that his lie was the truth. There was no effort to vindicate his answer. Greg's answer was nothing more then that, a truthful answer.

Coming to the conclusion that Greg had known nothing more then what he had told him, Calvin had nothing more that he needed to say. Without another word, he back turned around and went to leave the room like he tried to do before. But once again, he was stopped at the doorway.

"Is that why you kidnapped me?" Greg then ventured to ask.

Calvin let out a heavy sigh of frustration when Greg asked him this, as it was annoying to see that he still wasn't letting up on the subject. Without turning his attention to Greg but continuing to face the doorway, he had answered Greg with a threatening tone in his voice. "You don't know a god damn thing about Aaron to be making that accusation Greg."

Greg heard the edge in Calvin's voice, and minded his warning, but he still wanted answers, and was determined to get them. "Well I don't know anything, but Nick does. Why else would tell me that he thinks Aaron has something to do with this?"

"But do you trust that Nick knows what he's talking about?" Calvin intentionally mused with doubt, hoping to bring uncertainty into Greg's sense of confidence. "I mean, maybe he fell for another one of my curveballs, like when he believed that I was the innocent witness," he then suggested with a wicked grin, giving a bold example to support his claim.

Greg sat in silent for a moment, comprehending exactly what Calvin was telling him. At first, he believe that it was a valid argument, which had brought doubt into his spirit, but then after analyzing Nick's intentions, they had began to overpass Calvin's bleak perception. "I highly doubt that," he humbly yet valiantly argued.

The pride that Calvin saw in Greg after he responded to him with confidence, it wasn't the strength that he wanted to see in him. "And why's that?" he then challenged with a skeptical smirk.

"After I simply said Aaron's name, you took the phone back, said that Aaron isn't anyone that I need to know about, and then hung up the phone. I think it's obvious you did that because you didn't want Nick giving me any information, and why wouldn't you want that, because Aaron is involved in this," Greg logically explained.

Regardless of the fact that Greg's thinking was correct, it wasn't something that he was going to give him a sense of satisfaction for. With a crooked smirk and a scoff for a laugh, Calvin's response to Greg was nothing more then a remembrance of the fact that he had the control over what he did and didn't know. "As I said Greg, you don't even know who Aaron is to be making the accusation that he's involved in your kidnapping."

With answers being denied from him and having Calvin mock the control that he had over his sanity, Greg was finally beginning to reach his break point as his level of tolerance for frustration was at its very edge. Having now been informed of a possible explanation for why this is happening to him, and to having that very reason withheld, it was more then what Greg could sensibly take from this mind game. Whoever Aaron was, Greg realized that he didn't need to know anything about him to make one vital assumption.

With the same cocky smirk that Calvin wore so well and the same arrogant tone, Greg looked at Calvin with careless eyes and simply stated, "You know, I don't need to know a damn thing about him to know that if he is involved, like you, he's a sadistic fuckin asshole who can burn in hell."

* * *

Alright, so if you guy's have been following the story and everything and understand the relationships of the characters and all… then you understand why that was a cliffhanger :O!

So, here is the question that I have for you readers of Chapter 21: How do you think Calvin is going to respond to what Greg just said? Any guesses as to what he might say or do? Like, for all you know, he could just shrug his shoulders, but come on... Greg said that about Aaron! Please let me know what you guys are thinking!

And thanking my readers:

Thank you StarlitWave10 for alerting my story.

And WOO HOO… 9 Snazztabulous reviews from penguinsfan18, VisionX23, shellygirl34, crimescenelover, WMG, anon1315, Abby, JodsRaine, and StarlitWave10. I really appreciate the comments that you guys left regarding how you liked the accuracy of my dates and events and everything from the previous chapter. It really was a lot of work and I am really happy to see that it paid off.

Thanks again for reading everyone :D!


	22. The Voices of Mutes

God, I hate myself so much for making you guys wait as long as you've had to. I've just been so consumed with school and all that I just haven't found the time to write. But finally, on this fine Sunday, I have nothing on my plate for once and I've been able to fully commit myself to finishing this chapter. I seriously can not apologize enough to guys and can only hope you forgive me.

So on to chapter 22… ummmm no real author's notes here, except maybe the fact that I swear a lot, perhaps even a little more then usual, but it's in the proper context and all. Other then that, be sure to enjoy chapter 22 :D!

* * *

**Chapter 22: The Voices of Mutes**

As soon as Calvin heard Greg say this, he knew that it took a lot of guts for him to say. In all honesty, he wouldn't have minded what Greg said if it were directed at him alone. He would have taken it for a compliment and would maybe have given Greg a blow to the head and/or a punch to the stomach and then threatened him to watch what he said. But this wasn't the case. It had began to register with Calvin what exactly he was insinuating when he told Greg that he wasn't in a position to make an accusation about Aaron. By him telling Greg this, each time it was like a warning. It was a warning that went unheard though, and for Greg's sake, it was one that should have been heeded. This time, his cocky captive not only made an accusation, but he also attacked Aaron, a doing that Calvin wasn't going to tolerate in the least.

The action didn't take a second thought or even the slightest sense of hesitation. After hearing Greg's vile and putrid words, his hand automatically lashed out and he instantly clasped his strong, vein-exposed hand around Greg's throat. "It's one thing if you say that about me, but if you EVER say anything like that about Aaron again, I'll rip out your fuckin vocal cords and strangle you with them!" Calvin screamed at his victim, mere inches from his face.

The impact that Greg's words had on him had taken an emotional toll on him that he hadn't expected. For the first time, Greg had completely rattled him. The cocky arrogance that resembled the spirit of his words had brought him to an emotional state of utter weakness and wrath. As tears formed in his eyes, his hold around Greg's neck grew tighter.

It had been a while since Calvin had left the living room from where Mark and Dave were, and they had given him his time with their captive that he had requested. Throughout the time that they had been sitting in the living room, there were moments when they heard angered yelling and painful groans, but they weren't anything to raise an alarm. At this moment though, they had just heard the furious yelling coming from Calvin down the hall and by the atmosphere that the words carried with them, both Mark and Dave knew that they needed to go and see what had caused Calvin's explosion. The two of them rushed up from their seats and swiftly made their way down the hall to the room that Calvin and Greg were in.

The sight before them as they entered the room, both Mark and Dave were shocked to see what exactly was going on. Seeing Calvin's hand firmly gasping Greg's neck without a single sign of letting up, they both knew that what ever had happened, it must have been dangerously serious. Throughout this whole ordeal, Calvin seemed to have the most restrain, ironically, against Greg as he knew how far to take his beatings before he knew he was at a point of permanent damage. At this moment though, Calvin seemed completely detached from himself as from looking at Greg, he was at that point of killing him. Without a second though, Mark and Dave ran over to Calvin and forcefully tried to get him off of Greg.

"Calvin, stop it! You're gonna kill him!" Mark screamed at Calvin as he tried to loosen his grip around Greg's neck. It was obvious though that he had gone unheard as Calvin seemed completely unfazed by his words. The only thing that seemed to register with Calvin was the fact that his hand had managed to become tighter.

Seeing that very same disconnected spirit in Calvin, Dave also frantically began to help Mark with removing the grasp from Greg's neck. As he took a quick glance at him though, it was clear that Calvin had almost succeeded with the task as Greg's face was turning pale blue and his face that was screaming for oxygen was beginning to lose that very life. Turning his attention back to Calvin, he firmly yelled at him, "Calvin, let go of him!"

What ever it was, reality finally clicked with Calvin and he had released his grasp from Greg's neck. As his mind and mentality had returned to the reality, he instantly became overwhelmed with everything that had just happened. His hands began to violently shake as he realized the he had literally almost killed someone with his bare hands and tears once again began to form in his ducts. But when he began to remember why this reaction had been triggered, he faced his captive who was coughing in agonizing pain, and once again went to charge him in wrath!

Seeing this very action from Calvin, both Mark and Dave firmly held him back and at a distant from Greg. It was a struggling effort though as it was obvious that Calvin seemed to have a surge of adrenalin going through him and it was taking a hell of an effort to keep him at an exceptional distant from Greg.

"Calvin, what the hell man? What's going on?" Mark forcefully asked, demanding an explanation.

"That fuckin piece of shit deserves to have his fuckin lips sewn shut!" Calvin screamed at him as he was jabbing his pointed finger in Greg's direction.

"Why, what happened?" Mark asked again, curiously demanding an answer.

At this moment, Calvin was so shaken up that he was at a point where he couldn't exactly comprehend with himself what had just really happened between him and Greg. It was completely an out of body experience. Though he knew it had really happened though, for as Calvin went to explain to Mark why he had almost killed Greg, the very vile words that Greg spoke began to repeat them selves in his mind in the same menacing tone. Experiencing the moment again, it had once again rattled Calvin and he lunged toward Greg and was furious when Mark and Dave held him back.

"Calvin, stop it!" Mark screamed at Calvin once more in frustration for his actions.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get his chance on Greg again, out of his emotional agony, he looked straight at his gasping victim and screamed at him, "You're going to regret that they pulled me off of you! You're going to wish that I killed you right now!"

Living that moment of life and death with Calvin, after hearing his threat, it had petrified him to his core of sanity. "Then just kill me," Greg gasped out, though he was practically begging.

"What was that?" Calvin then demanded to hear again, not entirely sure if he had heard Greg correctly.

With tears forming in his eyes once again, overwhelmed by the plea that he was making, he repeated himself with agonizing defeat. "Then just kill me already!"

"You're unbelievable Sanders, you know that?" Calvin firstly blurted out in pathetic disgust for his captive. With the emotional toll that was effecting both him and his captive, it was frustrating for Calvin to have Greg make a strong and careless comment and then to have him portray such a defeatist spirit. Calvin knew that he couldn't kill Greg, but at this moment, the means behind why he couldn't kill Greg didn't matter in the least and he was pondering more so why he wasn't killing him right now. With these dark conclusions filling his mind, Greg's plea was beginning to look very intriguing, so replying to his victim with a cold voice, he gave hope for granting his wish. "You want me to kill you? Fine, but know that your the pathetic piece of fuckin shit that deserves to burn in hell!" Calvin screamed back, making sure that he was also in the position to get the final word, and also to defend Aaron.

When Greg heard Calvin say that he was the one who deserved to burn in hell, Greg wasn't shy to let his jaw drop in shock once he heard Calvin's oblivious arrogance in this situation. "I haven't done anything to deserve that!" Greg screamed back, defending himself. "I haven't done anything! You're the one who's kidnapped me, tortured me, assaulted me, emotionally traumatized me, and you've tried to kill me! I don't deserve any of this!"

"And neither did Aaron!" Calvin screamed back at Greg, once again defending him in this situation.

"I don't give a shit about Aaron! I give a shit about me!" Greg firstly screamed, making sure to expose his carelessness for this person that he doesn't know anything about. To then further embellish that fact, he then added in valiant hate, "When Aaron goes through everything that I've been through then I'll give a shit about him!"

This was the point when Calvin finally reached his limit of tolerance. Having Greg once again make a careless and inconsiderate comment, it was just more then he could handle. With rage surging through him, Calvin managed to break out of Mark and Dave's hold on him and instantly went after Greg. Though it seemed like there wasn't anything that could hold him back from releasing his wrath against Greg, when eye had caught sight of the work benches that were set up around the room, it was just the thing needed to distract his attention.

With his attention firmly fixed upon the materials spread out on the benches, he began to rummage through them as his mind danced with the painful potential that each item held. Searching through the many tools and spare components, his eyes had caught several things that could satisfy his release of anger and hate, but what had prevented him from doing such was that none of the tools held value to him. They just didn't represent an appropriate means of torture.

Finally though, his attention was drawn directly toward a crowbar that was hanging on the wall. His hand extended to grab it and as he held the cold steel in his hand, he suddenly felt that deep, dark, depressing connection to it; he held power in his hands. With his eyes lingering toward Greg, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with it, but he unfortunately had to restrain himself. In the back of his mind, an inner voice had reminded him that it wasn't time and that he couldn't use it yet, but soon, it would be time. As he put the crowbar back on the wall, his hand longed for its power that he too easily surrendered for the time being. There was pure rage that was boiling inside of him toward Greg and having no other device to fill that void, Calvin once again began to cry.

With Calvin once again exposing his exterior sense of humanity and emotion, Greg took his opportunity and confronted Calvin's emotional turmoil with his own weakness. "Calvin, please," Greg merely pleaded.

It was the last thing that he wanted to hear; his captive's pathetic, helpless voice. During his search for a useful torture device, Calvin's eye had come across an open tool box with a roll of duct tape sitting on the top. Having it be the most common and accommodating method for silencing Greg, he instantly went to grab it. As he picked up the roll of adhesive though, something else had intrigued his eye that he didn't expect to see. A use for it was currently unknown, but the fact that it was the perfect specimen of raw material, it really held no bounds for its potential use. There was a warning label on it though which Calvin had decided to read. In an instant, his eyes purely glistened. It was a foreign idea, but maybe that was why it was going to be so sublime.

There was all of a sudden a calm demeanor in him. Even though he wasn't going to physically harm Greg, he was honestly content with that fact. When that moment came, he knew it wouldn't be anything to disappoint. Till then, what he had in mind was going to be enough to give him a sense of satisfaction. Turning around, Calvin walked back over to where Greg was sitting and stood back in front of him. With a calm voice to compliment his calm nature, Calvin simply announced with humble defeat, "You know what Greg, Nick was right."

Initially, hearing the calm in Calvin's voice had given Greg a relaxed feeling, but once he saw Calvin lurking toward him with a cruel menace in his eyes, his muscles tensed right back up. Never could he of imagined himself ever being able to bring Calvin to tears, and from seeing him expose that raw emotion of sorrow and wrath, to all of a sudden portraying a mellow soul, it was an understatement to say that the bizarre transformation of emotion was notably unsettling. Then with Calvin's words, they had intrigued Greg as he was revealing a significant truth, but once again, with his unpredictable energy, he was wasn't able to dictate if Calvin was simply informing him, or if there was a hidden meaning behind them.

"Aaron, he kinda has a big part in this," Calvin then informed, leading Greg on. "I mean it's actually really big, but I won't bore you with that story right now, but I can sum it up for you."

The answers that Greg began to receive, though he was ecstatic inside to be able to piece together a few more components that would ultimately explain his kidnapping, this joy was overshadowed by Calvin's concerning behavior. There was still a glazed look of wickedness in his eyes and a twisted play in his voice. Greg then noticed that Calvin was holding onto something and after twiddling with it for a second, he finally began to unscrew the cap off of a small tube. His eyes had become firmly fixated on this unknown object, but his attention was once again brought back to Calvin when he began to speak again.

"Everything I do is for a reason, remember?" Calvin then disturbingly added.

The calm in Calvin's voice, it was unnervingly chilling to the bone. Every sense related to the feeling of ease was obliterated from his being at the moment. With Calvin's words and the unknown item in his hand, Greg finally began to get worried. The muscles in his already tensed body tightened even further, his hands strongly gripped the metal chair arms that his wrists were bound to, and his shaky breathing began to dramatically hitch in depth and speed. Fear was an undeniable present within him and it proceeded to escalate without showing the slightest sign of subsiding.

It didn't take long for his fear to reach a level of panic though, but he was at least trying his best to visibly remain calm. But when Greg's eye finally caught sight of the small tube that was in Calvin's hand and was able to register exactly what it was, it sent him into a full fledge struggling panic. Regardless of the fact that he didn't even know what Calvin was going to use it for, it was that he was standing there holding it in front of him. What ever the purpose for it was, Greg knew that Calvin without a doubt had the intent to use it and that it wasn't going to be something that he would enjoy.

Calvin wasn't surprised in the least to see Greg resisting him, but it wasn't something that he was going to tolerate. Reaching for Greg's neck, he tried to take a hold of his jaw but when he viciously started to thrash his head around, attempting to stay out of his grasp, Calvin quickly grew agitated. Using a strong hand and a forceful grip, he seized Greg's neck and once he got his fingers into place, Calvin simply pinched his fingers into the creases behind Greg's jaw. It was a simply yet painful method and it easily subdued Greg.

With a firm hold on his captive, Calvin was able to look into Greg's fear stricken eyes as he finally explained to him what Aaron's involvement was. "See, what you need to start to keep in the back of your mind, is that if none of this had happened to Aaron, you wouldn't be here right now."

Greg was just completely overwhelmed by this point. With the fear that Calvin possessed over him and the confusion that Aaron had possessed over him, together they formed a combination of mental agony. "Please," Greg absently pleaded, though trying to reach out to Calvin's sense of humanity, if there truly was such a thing within him.

The pathetic plead, like all the other times, went unheard. Instead, a small inhumane smirk played along Calvin's lips. "If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut… right… about… now," Calvin warned as he then placed the tip of the tube against Greg's lips.

It had finally registered what exactly Calvin was doing and as a reaction to it, Greg had firmly shut his mouth and curled in his lips so to prevent the contents from entering his mouth. When he felt the cold gel touch his hot, quivering lips though, tears automatically began to roll down his cheeks. With the realization catching up with him, Greg finally let out an anguished cry hoping that it would be enough for this sadistic madman to stop adding the strong adhesive, but it did nothing, it didn't stop Calvin from super gluing his lips shut.

It was clear that Calvin didn't want to skimp out on this task as it had taken him about a minute before he finally removed the small tube from his lips. There was a thick, even coat that had been applied and to assure that the glue had in fact dried, Calvin leaned forward, getting dangerously close to Greg, and gently blew on his captive's trembling lips. While he was doing this though, due to the fact that he was so close, he was able to hear a pitiful whimper beneath Greg's sealed mouth and hearing this immediately inspired Calvin and his sick mind. Placing a finger against Greg's lips, he whispered with a breathy voice, "Shhh… the glue's supposed to keep to quiet."

Greg tried his hardest to sink into the depths of the chair hoping that he could melt into it and disappear, but in reality, the chair was his prison and he wasn't meant to escape it, or Calvin. With the cool chill from when he breathed on his lips to mold the glue and the rough texture of his finger tips gliding against his plastered mouth, it once again broke his strength to its very core. At this point, it wasn't even worth trying to portray a pseudo sense of strength when in reality, he felt as if he wasn't anything more then a pathetic, insignificant, nothing.

Satisfaction was key the key factor that would allow him to leave the room, and at this moment, Calvin felt satisfied. Even though he wasn't able to unleash his full exploitation of wrath against Greg, the super glue held strong as a fine substitute. It wasn't torture, more torment, but as Calvin went to leave the room, he was filled with a sense of content. The torture to come, it would far beyond over shine this mere footnote in Greg's journey through this ordeal. Having this to carry in his mind as he left the room, it was what indulged his sense of satisfaction.

It was then that Calvin went to leave the room with Mark and Dave following behind them. As the three of them approached the door though, after Mark and Dave left, Calvin then following behind them, before he was out of sight, he stopped. Before his hand reached for the door handle to close the door behind him, he was reminded of a key fact that he knew he couldn't keep from Greg's conscience. With a grin that was as kind as the devil's he turned to Greg and simply stated to him the cold, bitter reality. "And Greg, one more thing, and I know you'll love this. If none of this had happened to Aaron, then you also wouldn't know that I, the sadistic fuckin asshole who can burn in hell, even existed."

Once Calvin left the room and locked the door behind him, at first, everything was still. Greg sat there for a moment, completely stunned by simply everything. Five minutes ago he was talking to Nick and now he was alone again only with his lips super glued shut. Everything that was in between there, it was all an emotionally complex mess, everything from him lying, to Calvin crying, to almost dying. At this moment, it seemed incomprehensible for him to think that he could even begin to understand all that had just happened.

Knowing that he felt defeated was the one fact that he knew even more then he knew his own name. Right now, he didn't even feel like he held the importance to have a name. Once again, he felt reduced to the form of It. He was an object, a toy for Calvin for him to play with and control. The strings that wove together duct tape held him down and controlled his body and the glue muted his voice that his Master clearly controlled its use of. It was almost as if Calvin was trying to alienate himself for his being and if this was what he was trying to achieve, then he was well on his way to succeeding this dreary task.

As he sat there for a while, his mind once again began to ponder the fact as to why he deserved any of this to happen to him. Why did he deserve to be kidnapped, beaten, raped, and forced to suffer through all this mental agony. Why did he deserve to sit her bound to a chair in isolation with his lips glued shut. Greg could honestly not even begin to formulate an answer to these questions which had like before made this experience feel like a dream. It was a dream that he desperately wanted to wake up from though.

With his mind now confusing him between if he was really trapped in his own mind or if he was seriously suffering through this hell, he wanted to see if he could dictate which one was the reality. Seeing his supposedly trapped wrists first, he began to tug on them to see if he could release them from there binds, but after he felt the ache swarm his wrist once he gently pulled against it, he simply subsided from trying to do that.

There was one other thing that he wanted to try to see if it had really happened. The feel was just so real but the conclusion of the fact seemed to be far too foreign and evil for it to truly be real. Conscience against reality, he tried to open his mouth, doubting the invisible gag, but the clear seal was instantly proven to be real. Instantly he wanted to remove this feeling, so as he leaned forward, he started to scope out the area of his sealed lips with his fingers. The dry glue felt rough and course and Greg also took to notice that for some reason, as his finger merely brushed up against his lips, it just felt cold.

Putting aside this very feeling though, Greg began to try to find a spot where he could use his fingers to split the glue so that he could open his mouth once again. Attending to this task, his determination and sole focus was set to it. After spending a few minutes of doing this though, Greg quickly became aggravated and began to try to pry open his lips on his own by simply pulling his lips apart. Part of him had begun to doubt the glues strength, but has he started to yank his mouth against the adhesive, it was clear that the glue wasn't going to budge. What finally made Greg subside though was when he felt a crack, not from the glue, but from his skin. The open wound instantly began to sting and after feeling a small trickle down his chin, a drop of blood had landed in his jeans.

It was an overwhelming moment for Greg, his mind confirming the reality that his voice was trapped by this strong, alien adhesive. It was degrading and humiliating conclusion to come to and he was embarrassed with himself that he couldn't even break the seal on his own. Feeling that there was nothing more that he could do, Greg finally gave in to defeat. Pulling his legs up to his body, at first he did this to wipe away the blood from his chin with his pants, but for some reason he took comfort in this position. It had registered with him that he was basically in the fetal position, but he saw it as if he was making himself small, which had made him feel invisible. He terribly wanted to escape from this nightmare, and unfortunately, this was the best way that he knew how to do it.

It was a question that was beginning to haunt his mind and every chance that he got, he would repeat it to him self over and over. Why did he deserve this? Why did he truly deserve to be the victim of Calvin's inhumane brutality and mental dominance? The absent answer was given to him, blatantly in his outer exterior, but there was currently no depth to the reason. What Calvin had said, it presented a sense of intrigue within Greg. If this hadn't happened to Aaron then he wouldn't be suffering through this right now. Aaron was the reason for his suffering, but it still didn't answer why he was the one who had to suffer what he was put through.

The more that Greg thought of Aaron, it had then lead his thoughts back to Calvin. Whoever Aaron was, it had blatantly been confirmed that he had strong ties to Calvin. What he had said about Aaron, Greg wasn't oblivious to the fact that it was a vile and insensitive comment, but it was something that was more so to be directed towards Calvin, though his indirect method showed to be far more vulnerable then if he just attacked Calvin. Regardless of how the attack was made though, the result was beside Greg. Never could he imagine being able to bring Calvin to tears, but he did.

As Greg continued to sit there, his mind began to grow heavy. With the weight that his head carried with the overload of information that he couldn't piece together, he finally attempted to place everything in the back of him mind and he allowed himself to forget. The subtle mental release had cleared his mind for once and all of a sudden, the atmosphere around him seemed calm and undisturbed. The feeling was almost foreign to him, but he knew that it was something to enjoy. He took comfort to the solitude and the settled vibe as he was finally able to relax for the first time since he had been kidnapped.

It was then that the warm setting sun had finally come through the single small window. The bright hue had become fixed against his discolored body and had given him a sense of comfort. The glow against his skin gave a sense of life to his body and the rays of the sun provided warmth. Basking in the hope that the sun provided, he took in the relaxed nature as his exhausted mind longed for a wistful sleep. As the sun hit his face, his eyes effortlessly closed and he took in a deep breath, inhaling the warmth. He held in that feeling for as long as he could, and with a gentle exhale, he allowed his exhaustion to overpower him, and for the first time, Greg was granted the release of sleep and was able to escape from the nightmare.

* * *

For about the last 15 minutes, Nick and Catherine had been searching the file room at the crime lab looking for the old case file on Aaron Richards. It was apparent that Aaron Richards was a slightly common name in Clark County, but after searching through 4 different files by the name of Aaron Richards, they finally came across the one that they wanted.

Upon opening the file, Catherine was instantly fascinated by the photo of Aaron before her. It was a rare sight among mug shots to see a clean cut looking guy, but that was what she was looking at. Aaron had a nice hair cut that had complimented his kind, soulful eyes but the expression on his face seemed to scream innocence. Looking at his profile, he also seemed to be the complete opposite of Calvin. Aaron was skinner and about 5'11'' and had a long narrow face, but besides that, it was clear that he and Calvin were brothers.

"This guy is a convict," Catherine said in surprise and disbelief as she handed the file over to Nick.

As Nick took the file from her, he then examined Aaron's picture as well, but his reaction was nothing similar to Catherine's. "Holy hell," Nick said with eyes of shock.

"What is it?" she asked with confusion once she noticed Nick's expression.

The picture that he was looking at, he was embarrassed with himself that he couldn't bring himself to place a name with a face as he knew exactly who Aaron was. Flipping the page over, his eyes frantically skimmed the case report and his thoughts were confirmed. "I worked Aaron's case," he blatantly admitted.

Hearing Nick, her eyes flashed with shock and confusion. "You worked his case? Are you serious? I'm sorry but how could you not remember that?" she asked him, though in a way where she was practically interrogating him.

"I just didn't even consider it," Nick said in defense.

Catherine was completely agape to what she was hearing but she was also substantially confused. "Well what does Greg have to do with this, or Grissom?"

Nick had remembered what had occurred with the case about 5 and a half years ago, but he before he answered Catherine he skimmed through the case report and refreshed his memory. "I remember that it was during the time that Greg wanted to get out into the field, so with this case, Grissom and I worked it together and he had Greg there observing," he firstly stated, answering Catherine.

Catherine nodded her head to Nick's response, now somewhat knowing the involvement of Calvin's targets. "Well what was the case?" she then asked.

"We got a call from dispatch saying that a boyfriend had called saying that his girlfriend had just been raped. He was told to not touch anything and to keep her calm and all, so when Grissom, Greg and I arrived at the scene, we had to process the victim. A 17 year old girl who had been bound spread eagle to her bed had been raped. We asked her if she saw her assailant or knew who would do this to her, she told us that it was a man by the name of Aaron Richards and that he had been stalking her for the past few weeks. The next morning, Aaron had stopped by her house again and we grabbed the guy."

"There were abrasions on her wrists and ankles which showed signs of a struggle and after we ran an S.A.E. kit on her, and not only were there signs of sexual trauma, but we ran a DNA test against the semen and we got a match to our person of interest, Aaron Richards. It was an open shut case; the court found him guilty and sentenced Aaron to 25 years to life in prison."

"So Aaron wasn't innocent then, like what Calvin though," Catherine then stated, drawing the proper conclusion to what she had been informed.

"Grissom always said that the evidence doesn't lie, and that's true. What does lie, are the people," Nick then suggested, knowingly bringing doubt to Catherine's train of thought.

"Then continue, please," she asked wanting to now discover the truth behind the lie.

"So two weeks later, Aaron had apparently gotten into a prison fight and ultimately, he had been bludgeoned to death with a crowbar. Seeming that Greg was looking to take his first proficiency, Grissom figured that because he knew the case that this would be his first proficiency. I worked the case as well and this time, Grissom supervised. Once again, it seemed like an open-shut case, but when we started to process his jail cell, it opened up a new investigation. We found a letter that was supposed to be sent to the girl that he raped and it apparently going to be the fifth letter that he was going to send her. The letter had bothered a couple questions to mind. Later, Greg went to check the next of kin and this is when it got really weird. We figured that it was going to be Calvin, but instead, guess who it was."

"Was it the girl her raped?" Catherine then asked, riding the questionable vibe that the story had.

Nick merely nodded his head. "The letter was one thing, but this was something that just didn't seem right. This was either something that really showed the severity of his stalking, or that something really just wasn't right. Greg then went to give her the… the good news."

_Approaching the house of Monica Brush, the supposed sexual assault victim of Aaron Richards, a minor dose of adrenaline had kicked into Greg. This was the first time that he was going to get to question a person of interest, and regardless of the fact Grissom was right there supervising him and his rookie spirit, for once he was going to get a legit dosage of truly genuine field work. As the two of them got out of the car, followed by Officer Mitchell who got out of his own car, they all made their way up to Monica's front door. _

_With a dorky smile in his eyes and a failing attempt to hold a serious stare, Greg felt like he couldn't wait to pop a question and feel the satisfaction of being on his way to becoming a full fledge CSI. Grissom had caught his conserved hyperness off guard though once he offered him another opportunity to bask in this moment. "Care to do the honors?" Grissom asked with a hand insisting the door. _

_Not only did his eyes light up, but his hands had gotten severely sweaty. Never could Greg look at Grissom and tell him no so with whatever amount of confidence he could conjure up, he took a step toward the front door and with three firm knocks, that had hurt his knuckles a bit, he addressed the resident._

"_Miss Brush, this… um… this is Greg Sanders with the, I'm umm… I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab," Greg finally managed to choke out. After he managed to blurt out that babbling embarrassment, his face got rosy red. He stood there for a second waiting for his hot-flash to pass before he turned around to face Grissom. After seeing the expression on his face, it wasn't as bad as what he had expected as Grissom just stood there was a subtle smile on his face. "I need to work on that," he said, half apologizing in way. _

_With a simple shrug of Grissom's shoulders, Greg knew that his mistake wasn't anything to break a sweat over. With an awkward sigh but confident smile, he then took a step back and stood next to Grissom once again. "Just be sure to introduce both of us next time," Grissom then said offering his rookie a piece of advice. _

_After waiting for a few more seconds, the front door had finally opened and standing in the door way was their former victim, Monica Brush. "Can I help you?" she asked with a bitchy voice._

"_Ma'am we're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I'm Gil Grissom and this is Greg Sanders," Grissom said, restating the introduction in his calm collected manor. _

"_Oh," she firstly stated and all of a sudden a smile became plastered across her face. "I remember you guys; you worked the investigation that got that ass hole who raped me put away. Well what can I help you with?"_

"_We actually have some news for you today, but first I have a question?" Grissom informed. _

_Once Monica heard that she needed to be asked a question though, her smile faded and her eyes became hard, as if saying that she was now of the defense. "I'm I going to need my lawyer?"_

_Regardless of the fact that he was a rookie, Greg wasn't shy to catch on to the suspicion that Monica carried when she was asked this question. "I don't see why you would," Grissom suggested. "You're the victim, so you've done nothing wrong, right?" he then said, hoping to put the girl back at ease. _

"_What's the question then?" she asked, her voice hesitant showing that he guard was still firmly up._

"_Did you know that you were Aaron's next of kin?"_

_Monica's eyes then narrowed, not from anger, but from confusion. "No I didn't know that but what does that have to do with anything?"_

"_Well because you were Aaron's next of kin, we're here to tell you that Aaron Richards was killed today in a prison fight."_

"_What," was all she said, but her reaction said a lot more then that. A look of devastation filled her eyes as they began to fill with tears. "Aaron's dead?"_

"_Yes… ma'am," Grissom firstly, and hesitantly, stated. With confusion in his eyes, he then watched the unpredictable emotional display of their person of interest. _

_Greg's mind was as well going through the same sense of confusion, and after seeing Grissom continue his silence, Greg then summoned up the courage to question the girl for the first time. "Are you okay?"_

"_So he's just gone, Aaron's dead?" she then questioned again, shock and disbelief in her sorrow eyes as she asked for a conformation. _

"_Yes," Greg informed and after he saw her hands fly up to her face as she let out a depressing bawl, Greg finally decided to question his confusion with her emotions. "Listen, I'm sorry to ask this, but why are you crying?"_

"_Really, ass hole, you're asking me why I'm crying?"_

_With her reply, his brows furrowed as he questioned her response, but also why she felt the need to call him an ass hole. Regardless though, he defended his confusion against her awkward response. "Listen, I just find it weird that you're crying over the death of the guy who raped you."_

"_Greg," Grissom then simply replied, restraining Greg from saying anything else before he really pushed a boundary. _

"_How dare you!" Monica then screamed. "How dare you two come here and interrogate me and question my emotions! I'm sorry that's I'm sad that someone died okay! Sue me for having a heart! But I'm talking to you two anymore without my lawyer! Now leave me alone!" Then with a fast wind, the door was then heavily slammed in their faces. _

"_Grissom I am so sorry," Greg then blurted out, turning to Grissom and practically pleading for him not to me mad with what just happened._

"Its fine Greg," he then assured but without another word, he then walked back to his car.

_With a heavy sigh of disappointment in him self, Greg then turned to Mitchell who was still standing next to him. "I'm not crazy am I? I mean it's weird if someone cries over the death of their rapist right?"_

"_You'd figure," was all that Mitchell suggested before he and Greg had returned to their cars. _

_The car ride back to the lab was nerve wracking for Greg. With Grissom's response, he didn't know if he had angered his supervisor or if he was just really deep in though. Regardless, Greg didn't want to question the silence, he just wanted to get back to the lab. _

_When they had arrived, instantly Grissom and Greg headed toward the layout room where they knew Nick was. "Hey Nicky, you got anything?" Grissom asked as he and Greg entered the layout room. _

"_Yeah, I do actually, check this out," Nick said as he handed Grissom a letter that he had found in Aaron's cell which he had then proceeded to read aloud. _

_Dear Monica,_

_Having this now been the fifth letter I've sent you without a response, I'm beginning to grow tiresome and aggravated. Everyday I've waited to see if I've received a letter from you but alas, it's the same response every time. My face fills with morn and I return back to my cell with a low head and eyes of shame. _

_It's degrading having to pathetically beg you for a letter of explanation as it is a truth that I don't want to read, but if it's something that will at least offer some reason as to why I'm suffering through this daily torment, then so be it. It's clear that I'm not getting out of here, thanks to you. Not even my lawyer believes me anymore. As soon as that gavel resounded throughout the court room and the judge bellowed the results of where my future lies, I an innocent man was committed to my prison cell with the false representation of guilt. To everyone, I was the face of a rapist, a hunter that preyed on innocence._

_We both know the truth though and if you really want to live your life out day to day knowing what you've done to me then so be it. I believe that those who do wrong will get what they deserve, but you already know that about me. I hope that you do get what you deserve in your pathetic life. Not only did you ruin two hearts but you have severely degraded one of them. I'm embarrassed to say that I have ever loved someone as heartless as you, and unfortunately I can't get you off my mind. I can only think about why you would do this to me but all without an explanation. And as everyday passes and as I continue to think of this, I then shamefully wait for your letter, and everyday I don't receive it, I am once again reminded of what a heartless sadist you are. _

_Monica, once again all I can ask for is closure. Hope for me has basically been obliterated. I am obligated to except my fate of being imprisoned in this jail cell for the rest of my life for something that I haven't done, but please, offer me some peace with my horrendous excuse for a life._

_Aaron_

"_Where did you find this?" Grissom then asked with a questionable look on his face. _

"_In Aaron's cell. I thought it was really interesting," Nick informed._

"_Very," he said simply agreeing. "It's very personal, and almost poetic."_

"_Kinda makes you rethink if they guy was guilty huh?" Greg then suggested. When he said it though, both Nick and Grissom snapped their heads and looked at him with questionable and intimidating eyes. "Or not," he then quickly said, changing his mind. _

_Grissom was taken back by what Greg had implied, but after taking a second to consider what if, he then asked for an explanation. "Why do you think that?"_

_A thick gulp knotted in Greg's throat as nerves contorted in his stomach. He had almost wished that he hadn't said anything, but then again, this is what being a CSI was about. Taking in a deep breath, he then explained his thinking. "Well in the letter, it sounds like Aaron was betrayed."_

"_Yeah but he was stalking her Greg; she ratted him out and put him in jail, of course he's gonna feel betrayed," Nick said, contradicting Greg's reason. _

"_But this sounds more intimate. I mean, a stalker isn't ashamed to admit that he was in love. If anything, he'd be thinking that he picked the wrong one to love, especially if he got put in jail because of it? She turned him in which is rather explainable. This letter to me, it sounds like he was set up. It's like Aaron knows why, but it's, there's just that missing layer. He wants a full explanation. A stalker doesn't want closure; a stalker's blind to what he's done."_

"_He's a stalker Greg. I've had a stalker alright and seriously, they are completely infatuated with whatever they desire. I mean Nigel was going to kill me because he wanted to be me."_

"_Alright, but with Monica, Aaron raped her and then went back to the crime scene the next morning?"_

"_When he was raping her, he probably thought it was having consensual sex? Monica became his whole life Greg, he probably thought it was routine to come back to her place. Coming home to his girlfriend," Grissom reasoned. _

"_Then why wasn't he put in a psyche ward? Nigel was?" Greg reasoned as well, defending his thinking._

"_He was given a psyche test Greg; he's completely sane," Grissom explained._

"_Then what if Monica is the insane one?" Greg then contradicted once again. _

"_What do you mean?" Nick asked with a skeptical tone.  
_

_Hearing the bitterness in his tone, Greg looked at him with a look of frustration as it was how he felt, especially with constantly having his reasons turned down. "She started crying when we told her Aaron was killed," Greg then informed with pride for having a questionable piece of evidence. _

"_She started crying?" Nick then questioned finding it hard to believe that that was the reaction that came out of Monica. "You're serious?"  
_

"_Yeah, and I was confused so I asked her why she was crying?"_

"What did she say?"

"_She called me an ass hole for questioning her emotions and then told us she's not speaking to us without her lawyer."_

"_Well I have to say, that's weird."_

"_No kidding."_

"_So you're saying that you think Aaron was innocent, that Monica set him up?" Grissom then questioned Greg, knowing exactly where his train of thought was._

"_I know I'm a rookie, but," he started to say but was then cut off. _

"_And that's no excuse for your intuition. I know I always say follow the evidence for the evidence does not lie, but sometimes the people make it worth questioning. If you believe that Aaron was set up, then there is no reason not to look into it, but keep in mind that you have rules to follow. This is your investigation; follow where the evidence leads you." _

"Was Greg right? Was Aaron innocent?" Catherine asked, inside rooting for Greg hoping that he was the one that figured it all out.

"Well he passed his first proficiency didn't he?" Nick then reminded her with a small grin of pride playing on his lips.

"So the girl that Aaron raped set him up?"

"See that's the thing, we got enough evidence to bring her in for an interrogation, but an arrest is only so good if you have a confession," Nick then informed with melancholy in his voice.

"So she never confessed."

"She wouldn't, she didn't confess to a damn thing other then being raped by Aaron."

"Did you guys ever talk to Calvin?"

"Grissom interrogated him when Aaron was under investigation, but Calvin told us everything that Aaron told us. Her attorney claimed that Aaron had told Calvin what to say and that was why Calvin's story perfectly matched. Aaron's lawyer couldn't defend that."

"Aaron didn't even have a chance, did he?"

"As you and I both know, the two cases that jury members hate most are ones dealing with animals, and ones dealing with minors. It wasn't even worth bringing to court. Aaron didn't stand a god damn chance."

"So an innocent man went to jail."

"Yeah, and even if we did prove she was guilty, it would have been the last case that Atwater would have wanted to see in court. It would have been suicide for us, would have ruined the lab and made us look like we didn't know how to do our job. I mean when you think about it, Greg was a rookie, and it took a rookie for us to realize that we messed up."

"So you believe that Aaron was innocent?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't."

"Alright well consider this. Calvin was stalking us, so he must have known that you figured out that Aaron was innocent. Why would he go after the guy who basically proclaimed Aaron's innocence, why wouldn't he go after the girl who set up his brother? Like what's her name, maybe we can look her up?"

"Her name is Monica Brush," Nick informed.

"Who?" Catherine instantly questioned, demanding once again to hear her name with eyes of shock and her mouth agape.

"Monica Brush, do you know her?"

"Know her; she was the case that I initially got this morning, the rape of the 22 year old woman," Catherine informed as she ran her fingers through her hair to the utter shock of having her mind blindsided.

"You're kidding," he questioned in disbelief with a dropped jaw.

"You don't think Calvin did it, do you?"

"The girl who set up Calvin's brother get's raped the same night that Calvin decided to kidnap Greg. That can't be a coincidence."

"That can only mean one thing; Calvin's avenging his brother's death."

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The long awaited chapter 22, I hope it didn't disappoint you ha ha :)!

I really hope that chapter 23 isn't going to take as long, I've already got a great head start with editing it and all so it shouldn't take a month again :D! Also, that escape scene that I've been talking about, depending on some ideas that I have for chapter 23, whether they make the cut or not, FOR SURE, either the next chapter or chapter 24, the escape scene will task place… and I can not wait to see what you guys are going to think of it ! It's angsttacular! :D!

So a question that I have for you readers, it's kinda a random one, but out of curioustiy, of all the chapters, which one has been your favorite and why?

Anyway, so off to my thanks and appreciation…

For adding my story to your favorites list, thank you csifreak1234, Shadow of the Forgotten Ones, MellieCupcakes, and snow642.

For alerting, thank you to csifreak1234, MellieCupcakes, and MrZepher67.

And for all the reviews :D!... VisionX23, Nimue Tsuki, Greggo-123, ilovemiax, JodsRaine, StarlitWave10, csifreak1234, CJaMes12, darkorangecat, WMG, AngstWhore69, Tracy (4X), crimescenelover, and Abby. Thank you guys all so much for the reviews and all :D! They really just make my day :D!

Responses to reviews:

Ilovemiax: Oh my god, your heartless… but then again, I'm the one writing this story ha ha.

Abby: I wanna dedicate chapter 18 to you if that's okay, because you know, I guess Greg is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome a bit. I didn't really think of it like that but it makes perfect sense. Like you have to put yourself in Greg's position and all, like you think you're being rescued but your not and you think you're in the hands of someone new and all. Like he's terrified and all and it's a messed up situation, but Greg would rather be in the hands of someone he knows and all. I'm trying to keep this short and all because I could go off babbling, but… yeah. Did that make sense and all? It really all depends on how your perceived the situation. But yeah, I wanna dedicate chapter 18 to you because I HATE the title I gave to chapter 18, I just couldn't think of the right one, so just know that I changed the title of chapter 18 because of you. Thank you so much :D!

Also, one final author's note. I know this chapter took a while and I am sorry about that, but I still want you guys to know that I WILL NOT abandon this story. If updates take a while, just know that it's probably due to a bit or writers block and/or an overload of school work. But I will never leave this story, not until it's finished :D!

So till chapter 23, Adios my readers :D!


	23. A Long Awaited Confession

So Chapter 23 is here for you guys in just two weeks… I would call that an accomplishment on my part :D! God I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've posted my story and I can't believe I am almost at 200 reviews :D! Is that normal for someone's first story? Ahhhh whatevo… I just love that you guys are enjoying it.

Anyway, lots of dialogue, and minor spoiler alert… there is a scene with one of CSI's all time beloved supervisors… but I won't say who it is ;D! Oh, and you're also going to get the full insight of what happened to Aaron. But be sure to enjoy this chapter and also leave a snazzy little review at the end :)!

* * *

**Chapter 23: A Long Awaited Confession**

The remarkable connection between the two cases in the lab was utterly astonishing to Catherine. Never could she of expected this but once again, it only provided a more solid conviction to the mastermind that Calvin truly was. Making her way down the hall searching for a certain someone, she finally spotted him as she saw him leaving the DNA lab. "Langston," she called as she swiftly made her way over toward him.

Upon hearing his name, as the natural reaction he looked to his left so to meet the voice that was calling for him. "Catherine," he greeted with a modest grin but a serious stare. "How's the case with Greg going? I'm sorry that I haven't been able to help as you know I wanted to."

Not exactly expecting to be asked a question, he had momentarily caught her off guard, but quickly pulled her mind back together and answered his question. "We're making good headway and were able to talk to Greg but listen; I need to ask you about your case. Do you have a suspect yet for who raped Monica Brush?" she asked with a stern demand in her tone.

His brow had furrowed once he was asked this question, confused as to why this information was relevant to her. Answering her though, he gestured the lab results that he held in his hand and with a disappointed expression replied, "The guy was clean. No hair, no DNA, no epithelial, if it wasn't for the S.A.E. kit, I would question if that girl was even touched."

"So she was raped," she had stated in a way that would provide a conformation for her thoughts based on what she had been informed of.

"I would more so classify it as severe sexual trauma," Langston firstly confirmed with a deep look of sympathy in his eyes. "Her ligature marks on her wrists and ankles clearly implied that she put up a vicious struggle against her assailant, but doing that seemed to only add to her suffering. Regardless of her trials at resistance, it didn't prevent the deep, swollen bruises to her pelvic bone or major tears against her vaginal wall," he pointed out with a woeful spirit; clearly embodying the pain that he held for her. "There was rage in this attack."

"I wouldn't doubt that," Catherine stated in agreement. "Especially if your suspect is who I think it is," she then suggested with reason and hope.

As soon as he heard this, a light glistened in his eyes. Having his emotions go out to the wrath that this girl had endured, he desperately wanted to bring the man that did this to her to justice, and hearing that he now had the chance to, his spirits were instantly risen. "Who do you think did this to her?"

"I think our cases are connected," she firstly began to explain.

"Really," Langston had initially questioned with a furrowed brow, surprised to her this mention of a possibility. "How's that," he then asked, now wanting an explanation.

"I think your suspect is the same guy that kidnapped Greg this morning, and because of that, I need to talk to Monica," she immediately explained, getting right to the point.

With the information he was being informed of, seeming that there were some great details missing to it, Langston, though understanding her request, was confused by it. "Sure, you can talk to her, but why do you need to?"

"Well our perp, Calvin Richards, we have little reason to doubt that he kidnapped Greg as an act to avenge his brother's death that happened five years ago and Monica just so happened to be a key factor in that case. Based off what happened five years ago, we think he's trying to recreate the events that took place, and if this is his intention, then it rightfully brings us to the assumption that he also raped Monica," she briefly informed as best she could.

"So Greg was kidnapped for revenge purposes," Langston simply stated, summing up everything that Catherine had informed.

To his response, Catherine merely nodded her head. "As is the same reason why Monica raped," she then further implied.

"Well then we should head over to Brass' office and get an Officer to escort Miss Brush to an interrogation room," Langston then insisted.

Upon her subordinate's rightful order, the two of them then made their way toward Brass' office. Once Catherine had issued her request, it had stumbled Brass' mind with a mess of confusion, but after a moment to clear up all the information and explain the logical assumptions, Catherine was then making her way to one of the interrogation room.

While waiting patiently for the victimized young woman to enter the interrogation room, as she looked up at the door once she heard it open, she saw Nick making his way in. "What do you need," she bluntly asked as she immediately demanded an explanation.

"So you're questioning Monica?" Nick humbly asked.

"Yeah, she should be coming in any second now."

"Well, what're you going to ask her?" Nick then asked with his voice wavering with a tone of uncertainty.

There was a heavy sigh in her voice once Nick had asked her this. It wasn't so much the question, but the doubt that she heard in his voice as it seemed misplaced and unexplainable on his part. "Nick, Calvin is trying to recreate the events that took place five years ago. That's why he kidnapped Greg and that's why he raped Monica. You said that you know this girl set up Aaron and I want an explanation out of her," she proudly informed as she explained her intentions.

"But Catherine, she didn't say anything five years ago, what makes you think she's going to say anything now?" Nick then contradicted.

"Is that really going to be what stops us?" she then challenged with a conniving smile. "It's not going to hurt us to see what we can get out of her."

Seeing the stubborn confidence in her, Nick knew that there wasn't anything that was going to convince her that this interrogation was going to be a waste of time. Turning around and making his way for the door, he then humbly retorted back with the same look of doubt in his eyes. "You didn't talk to her five years ago."

The moment after Nick had made his way out of the room and took his place behind the double-sided glass to listen in on the questioning of Miss Brush, it was then that Monica had made her way into the room. As Monica slowly and cautiously made her way over toward the table, as she sat down, Catherine noticed that the girl had subtly grimaced, though she was trying her best to hide her pain.

Before she had begun her questioning, Catherine had taken a moment to study her and her frail nature. This morning when she had first seen her, she was far more lively, but not in a good way. She was frantically alert as it was due to the shock of what had just happened to her. Now that her assault had happened almost 18 hours ago, the realization of what happened now had its time to settle into her conscience. The girl had a distant, broken look in her eyes and Catherine also noticed that her nails were bitten past the buds; her form of coping with what had happened to her.

Sensing the discomfort that this girl was going through, with a gentle voice, she greeted the girl with a welcoming smile. "Hi Monica; I don't know if you remember me from this morning but I was originally working your case. I'm Catherine," she reintroduced.

Nodding her head, with a quiet voice and vulnerable eyes she replied, "I remember you. How come you're not working my case anymore though?" she then ventured to ask.

"Something had come up, something that was rather urgent," she simply explained.

"More urgent then catching my rapist?" she then selfishly questioned with a shy voice, but not even her vulnerability could cover up her arrogance.

With her snide remark, Catherine instantly saw past her coy innocence and immediately saw an arrogant spirit beneath her pasty flesh. Her warm, inviting smile that presented her kind heart quickly died and an eerie vibe filled the room. From what she did know about this girl and what she did five years ago, it was bothersome to Catherine to think that it was because of her that Greg had been kidnapped in the first place, but keeping to her professionalism, she merely shrugged her snarky attitude off her shoulder and continued with the questioning. "Well actually it turns out that our two cases may be connected."

"Well what case are you working now that made you feel so inclined to abandon mine then?" she then asked, prying into business she knew nothing about.

Once again hearing the conceited arrogance in her voice that she tried to hide under her frail sense from being victimized was festering with her mind, but putting on a plastic smile, she replied with a scripted tone, "That's actually confidential information that I can't share with you," Catherine firstly informed. "But what I can share is that our suspect might just be the same person who raped you."

"Great, then you can nail that ass hole for two crimes," she announced with a conceited smile as she realized that she was given some information that involved her self.

"But the thing is," Catherine then happily contradicted and when she did, she felt a bitter sense of pride within once she saw the smug portrayal of a smile fall from Monica's face. "See we don't have anything to prove that he raped you," she then continued to inform, but this time, she doubt fill Monica's eyes. Regardless of her questionable look though, Catherine continued with what she was saying. "See he didn't leave any trace of himself at your crime scene where we could find him a suspect."

"Well then how do you have a suspect?" she questioned, she voice dripping with arrogance and doubt as she practically gave Catherine the stink-eye.

"Due to the events that have transpired in our case," Catherine simply explained. "The questions I have for you today, they actually have to deal with a case that happened about 5 years ago."

As soon as Catherine had told her this, the look of skepticism and the sense of arrogance had abandoned her. A nervous gulp had noted in her through and with a questionable voice, she asked, "You mean the case with Aaron Richards?"

"Glad to see you know what I'm talking about," she quipped with a sarcastic grin and a snarky voice.

After picking up on Catherine's attitude and taking to the warning that it wasn't something to mess with, her guard immediately went up. "It's not something that you entirely forget," she harshly commented in a way of defense.

"I guess it wouldn't be," Catherine then reasoned with a pseudo representation of understanding in her eyes. "Hell it's probably on your conscience everyday perhaps, the fact that you set up an innocent person and put them in jail," Catherine passively insinuated, though intentionally taunting the hidden truth.

After Catherine's parade of arrogant accusations, Monica's eyes viciously narrowed. "Listen honey, I've already been interrogated over this crap alright and I don't need some red-headed bitch pointing a finger at me. I've never seen you before so I sure as hell know you didn't work my case, so where do you get off at pointing a finger at me and saying I'm guilty. I said it five years ago and I'll say it again; Aaron Richards raped me and that's it. I didn't set him up," she boldly defended with a firm glare.

Catherine was amused by the girl's attitude, but it was nothing that she was going to tolerate in the least. Crossing her arms and with a cold tone, she threw the girls pathetic excuse for a defense back in her face. "For one _honey_, don't you even think you can get off with calling me a bitch alright? Secondly, I know I didn't work your case five years ago, but I know enough about it where I can comfortably question your actions and not only that, but I have the CSI here who did work your case and knows it like the back of his hand. Thirdly, a man's life is at stake here and if you don't cooperate, then I'll charge you as an assistant to kidnapping. This isn't like how it was five years ago."

Monica was taken back a bit by the threatening tone that Catherine had shown and was terrified of the threat that she had also made. At this point, she felt trapped by her accusations and the only way she could get out of it was to return to her most solid form of defense, and with eyes of a martyr, she pleaded, "I'm the victim here!"

"And so is my friend," Catherine instantly defended with a strong glare. "And frankly, it's all because of you!" she then firmly retorted. Seeing the intimidated expression in Monica's eyes, it was then made clear that she had the control in the room. "Now shut up and answer my questions," she then proudly added.

Monica instantly became silent, mentally telling herself to remain stubborn with keeping quiet. But as her mind began to process the threat that Catherine had made and after considering the predicament that she was in, she started to consider whether it would in fact be in her best interest to cooperate right now. She really didn't know how to respond to the situation that she was in, but after she took in a deep, calming breath, she rightfully gave into Catherine's demand. "Then what's your first question?"

With seeing the girl submit before her, Catherine instantly felt more at ease seeming that she didn't have to brutally demand her cooperation any longer. "Now that's better," Catherine commented also taking in a deep breath and easing into her chair. "Now do you personally know who Calvin Richards is?" she then asked as she immediately got into her questioning.

Monica was silent for a second before she answered. "I've only heard that he's the brother of Aaron," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well that's not what Calvin said," Catherine contradicted. "Five year's ago he told us that he knew you fairly well, that he's met you a few times. He told me that you were dating Aaron."

Hearing this, Monica let out a humorous laugh. "Aaron was stuck in a delusional fantasy. He was stalking me and therefore created a world where he was involved with me. He probably told his brother all about it and Calvin went along for the ride."

"You know that Aaron was tested for delusional psychosis; he was completely sane," Catherine informed.

"Well then he knew how to turn it on and off," Monica viciously retorted with a look of frustration and anger in her eyes.

Catherine had been taken back by her minor out burst and held off for a second before she ask another question. She was just looking at Monica and she could see that there was something that she was holding back. Catherine knew that she wanted answers, but she knew that Monica wasn't going to just give them up. She figured that Nick was probably right; she had kept her mouth shut for the past five years and she would continue to do so. There was only one way that she figured that she could get Monica to open her mouth and spill the real truth behind her lie.

"Monica, could I have a conversation with you," she firstly asked, but as she did she saw a look of confusion in her eyes, which she figured was due t the fact that they were having a conversation at this moment. It wasn't the kind of conversation that Catherine had been hoping for though as she was hoping that she would be able to reach out to Monica, but Catherine soon figured that there was only one way that she could possibly do that. "But off the record," she then calmly suggested.

Instantly Monica's eyes glanced up and looked at Catherine. "A conversation about what," she questioned with her guard still up, though it began to present to possibility that it could be brought down.

"About what happened five years ago," openly admitted. As she said this though, there was a look of hesitancy that filled Monica's eyes, but it didn't stop Catherine from pleading her case. "My friend was kidnapped, and his life is at stake," she said choosing to play a sympathy card. "We believe that he was taken due to the events that took place five years ago. We're trying to understand why this is happening to him and there is just a gap with your story. I'm sorry that I am accusing you, but really, it's hard not to, based off the information that I know. Could I talk to you though? It doesn't have to be here, we can do it in the break room if you want, but everything that's said, it'll be completely off the record. It'll be like the conversation never happened, but would you tell me everything that happened?"

Monica was silent for about a minute as she contemplated Catherine's offer. When she finally answered though, sorrow and shame filled her eyes as she simply denied Catherine's request. "I can't," she quietly whispered.

Catherine wasn't going to deny the fact that she was playing a little bit of the good cop there, but being denied her accommodating request, it had angered her to the core. With her ferocious attitude returning, she threw here hands up and with a careless tone of bitterness replied, "Fine then; don't help us out. But know this; if my friend dies, I'll be charging you with withholding information from a police officer in an investigation. The kidnapping case, it will be going to court, and I'll make sure that yours follows with it."

"Really, you're threatening me now?" she quipped with a snarky tone.

"Honey, you have no idea what I've been through these past 18 hours. I haven't slept in almost a day and I am exhausted but I can't sleep, not until I find him. And on top of that, I've seen some of the most horrendous shit that I have ever seen in my life inflicted against my friend. I will not stop until I find him and I sure as shit will not put up with the crap you're trying to pull. So you have two choices: you tell me everything that I need to know or you can sit here with knowing of the possibility that you could be going to jail. Wouldn't that be ironic, the innocent going to prison."

Monica was once again silent as she now pondered her two choices, seeming that this was the only thing that she could do at the moment. It didn't take long for her to make her decision though, but before she fully agreed to it, she wanted one final conformation. "So it's completely off the record?"

"Tell me what I need to know, and the conversation never happened," Catherine confirmed with an honest look in her eyes.

"And you swear? This isn't a trick or anything?"

"I've dealt with enough mind tricks and mental games for a lifetime where I don't even need to be pulling them," she commented with a slight chuckle. "Genuinely, I just want to sit down, have a cup of coffee and have a conversation with you about what happened five years ago."

Silence for a final time over swept Monica as she once again contemplated over whether or not she should really agree to this. But as she looked up at Catherine and saw a pleading glisten in her eye, it was enough to finally convince her. "Alright then," she said with a smile barely playing on her lips.

After hearing this hopeful conformation, a heavy sense of relief swept over Catherine as she realized that she was finally going to bring Aaron's case to truth after all these years. The two of them got up from their seats and as Catherine began to head down toward the break room, Monica had followed behind her. As the two entered the break room, Monica had chosen a seat and made her self comfortable as Catherine filled up two cups off coffee and then took a set next to Monica.

Accepting the comforting offering, Monica took a sip of coffee and after she swallowed down the hot beverage, she cleared her throat and addressed the topic at hand. "So where do you want me to start?"

"We'll just start off with some questions and see where it takes us from there alright," Catherine suggested and after seeing Monica nod her head in understanding, Catherine got right into her questioning. "So how long did you know Aaron Richards?"

Taking in a deep breath and gulping down a thick knot that had formed in her throat, she finally confessed the long awaited truth. "About three years," she said with a timid voice, but immediately after she spoke, I tear welded up in her eye.

Catherine instantly took to notice her sorrow expression and feeling sympathy for the girl questioned her well being. "Are you alright?"

With her finger wiping away a tear that was threatening to roll down her cheek, she nodded her head in assurance. "I've just never told anyone about this before," she then admitted.

"It'll feel good to get it all out," Catherine then reasoned with an assuring smile.

"I guess," she softly agreed with an eased expression in her eyes. "And if it helps you find your friend," she then added, expressing that she was willing to give them her full cooperation.

When Monica had said this, a subtle yet humble smile played against the corner of her mouth, as she was pleased to hear that Monica was now willing to help for the sheer fact that it was going to help Greg. After taking a brief moment to bask in this happiness, Catherine then turned her attention back to Monica and immediately got right back into the questioning. "So like Calvin told us, you two were dating then?"

"Yes, we were in an exclusive relationship," she emotionlessly informed, as if when she was telling the truth, she was distancing her self from it. Having convinced her self that the lie from five years ago was the truth, she had come to basically believe herself over the years. Now having to reveal the truth of her lie, it wasn't something that she emotionally wanted to confront.

Catherine had sense this very lifeless display in Monica when she had responded to her question, but at this moment, how she had answered her question wasn't anything to concern herself with; all Catherine wanted was the answers. "So how old were you then, when you two started dating?" she then asked, wanting a clarification to this fact.

"I had just turned 15," she once again merely answered, without expressing any care in her response.

Hearing this, Catherine's eyes had mildly widened as she was surprised to hear that a girl as young as she was dating a well grown man. "And how old was Aaron?" she then ventured to ask.

"Aaron was 26."

It wasn't the vastest dating age difference that Catherine had ever heard of, but it did surprise her that a 26 year old man had been dating a minor that was as young as she was at the time. "So Aaron was aware that he was dating a minor? You guys had a consensual relationship right?" Catherine then ventured to ask, desperately wanting a clarification at this point.

"We were in a consensual relationship, so we were having sex," she firstly pointed out. But answering the second part of Catherine's question, she was embarrassed of herself. While biting her lip and holding a concerned look in her eyes, she held off for a second before she had answered Catherine. "Aaron didn't know I was 15 though," she finally admitted to.

"Well how old did he think you were?" Catherine then asked, her attention fully fixed upon this girl as she craved her explanation.

Upon hearing Catherine's question that she had been painfully anticipating, it was as if her conscience had been severely attacked with out warning or mercy. Her mind began to painfully and regretfully relive those moments that had taken place five years ago and Monica finally felt like she hit her first speed bump with this questioning. She knew that it was here that her lack of morals would begin to shine through and it was all what led to her taking advantage of the one man who had loved her with his whole heart.

Taking in a deep breath, she began to explain her situation that lead to the deceitful lie. "When I had met Aaron, instantly, there was chemistry. He asked me out and after the first date, I couldn't tell him my real age. You know, I developed early and looked older then I was, and I was also mature for my age, so I told him that I was 19. I knew that if I told him my real age, him being 26 and all, I knew he would ask to break off the date and it would have ruined the chance for a potential relationship."

"And with that lie, it led o you to dating for about three years then?" Catherine then asked for the simple sake of a conformation as she expressed what she had taken from what Monica had told her.

"Yes, we did," she then simply answered.

"So, what led to its end?"

This was the moment of deceit and betrayal, the moment that Monica had been painfully waiting to explain, but she knew that it wasn't anything that she was going to be able to avoid telling. "Well my best friend Cory, well I knew that he had a thing for me but he knew I was dating Aaron. When I told him though that Aaron didn't know my real age, I was 17 at that time, Cory then mentioned this whole scheme where we could get some money out of it. He said that if we staged a rape, we could pin Aaron and then he would go to jail and that the jury would hold more sympathy to me because I was a minor."

After hearing the truth that Aaron had been set up, Catherine was now beginning to change her view on this whole questioning. It did offer the truth of the situation that took place years ago, but Catherine was starting to feel disgust for this girl. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and that someone would really go as far as her to set someone she loved up all for money. But having to be the professional, she had to excuse her emotions and issued another question. "So you went along with the plan?"

Monica nodded her head. "I like rough sex and damsel in distress scenarios, so that night, I told Aaron to pretend he was kidnapping me and to tie me down and rape me. I know it sounds weird but it's actually really erotic."

"I've heard stranger sex stories trust me," Catherine then felt inclined to point out with a careless attitude.

"Really?" Monica then enthusiastically questioned, skeptical that there were more embarrassing stories then her own.

"17 years on the job will do that to you, and even before I did this, I was an exotic dancer. I've heard my fair share of kinky sex stories," she once again assured.

Monica was beginning to sense Catherine intimidating nature and was beginning to feel uncomfortable, but knowing that she had to continue with her explanation, she tried her best to ignore that judgmental expression on her questioner's face and went back to explaining her elaborate plan and deceiving betrayal. "So yeah, that's what happened there. So after that night, he then had to go to his second job so when he left, I called Cory and him and I staged a crime scene. He tied me back up to the bed and then he called the cops. You guys were then sent over and all of a sudden, there was a full fledge investigation and shortly after, Aaron was sent to prison."

"Pretty elaborate plan," Catherine pointed out.

"Fooled you guys," Monica then cockily added though it was more so meant as a joke so to lighten up Catherine's stern and dismal spirit, but her smile instantly dropped once she saw the irritable look on Catherine's face. "Just well organized," she then quickly added so to try and excuse that embarrassing comment that she had just made. "Cory made sure there weren't any loop holes and I just did what he told me to do," she simply reasoned.

With now being informed of the heartless motive, Catherine's mind began to fester with a personal question. "Why did you want to leave him? I mean, you were with him for three years? You must have loved him?"

"Well Cory was nuts about me. With a little persuasion, he convinced me to leave Aaron and I then started dating Cory."

"What did he say to convince you to leave Aaron?"

"Well he mentioned the age difference of course and how if I stayed with him how I would have to start to take care of him. He also mentioned how I should be dating someone my own age who likes to do the things that I like to do."

"And Aaron just wasn't fulfilling that need?" Catherine then pondered aloud, not fully sure by what Monica meant by what she had said.

After being asked this, once again Monica grew silent. Taking in another deep breath and as a tear formed in her eye once again, she poured her soul into this confession. "You know, I think about this everyday, and everyday, I completely regret what I did. I loved Aaron, and he was perfect for me. Love holds no bounds, and that is what Aaron and I had. I just had to ruin it, and not only that, but I got Aaron killed. I absolutely hate feeling responsible for what I did to him, but there really isn't anything that I can do to change that now is there?"

"Unfortunately, someone is trying to change that."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused by what Catherine had said

"He can't bring Aaron back, but he's trying to avenge his death," she then explained, though not realizing that she was leaving out information.

"Who is?" she asked as she was rightfully confused by who Catherine was referencing to.

"We have strong reason to believe that Calvin raped you last night."

"How do you know?" Monica unsurely questioned.

Though she knew she had to keep information confidential, at this point Catherine figured that she deserved to know the full extent of what was happening because of what she did five years ago. "He kidnapped my friend last night too and he had worked Aaron's case. We think he raped you because it resembled the lie that led to Aaron's imprisonment."

"Then why did he kidnap your friend?"

"We're not entirely sure, but even if we did know, we can't share that information with you," Catherine informed, denying information from Monica once again.

Regardless of the fact that she didn't receive an explanation for why her friend had been kidnapped, there was one fact that had remained the same, and it was boldly evident, in black and white. "So it is because of me that you're friend was kidnapped?" she blatantly said.

The question that had been directed toward her, though her mind had come to the conclusion, hearing the confession to this fact was completely different. Catherine looked up at Monica with dismal eyes that had shunned her has a human being with the black heart.

"And I was raped because of what I did," she then pointed out, hate for herself and ashamed that she ultimately caused the mess the transpired in the lives of the innocent.

Once again, Catherine couldn't bring her self to acknowledge the girl sitting before her. With the second comment that she made, Catherine figured that she deserved what had happened to her, but why Greg deserved to suffer through all that he has wasn't anything that she could even come close to understanding. It was at this point that Catherine had reached her own limit and without another word excused her self from the table and went to leave the break room. But before she had left, she head Monica make one final comment.

"You're friend doesn't deserve this," she said with a frail voice that was covered with her own self loathing and shame.

The comment had stopped her in place at the door way, and before she left the room, without turning around, she replied, "No he doesn't." She then left the break room and quickly made her way to Nick's office knowing that he was there waiting for her.

Nick didn't have anything to do other then to wait for Catherine to finish questioning Monica, and as soon as he saw Catherine swiftly making his way toward his office, his heart filled with hope, but as soon as he saw the broken expression on her face, his own face dropped and he held concern for his dismayed colleague. "Catherine, are you alright? How did it go?" he asked as he approached him and he saw the glisten in her eyes as if she was crying.

"She set up Aaron," was the first thing that Catherine blurted out. "This is happening to Greg because of her. It's all her fault!" she then spat out in utter disgust for the pathetic excuse for a human that she was.

"So she confessed?" Nick asked in surprise.

"She confessed to the whole story! And its bull shit! This is all bull shit!" Catherine then screamed in frustration.

"What is," Nick asked, confused by her loud exclaim and what she meant by it.

"This is happening to Greg because of her! She set up his brother and got him put in jail where he was then killed two weeks later! What did Greg do? Greg worked the case and presented the truth! Greg was defending Aaron and how does Calvin repay him for that? He kidnaps Greg, has beaten him senselessly, has burned him, cut him, pushed him down a flight of stairs, and the _piece__de__résistance_, he raped Greg and recorded it! Monica set up his brother and all that happened to her was that she got raped. What's happened to Greg? Well we've got two videos of torture that don't even explain the half of what he's had to go through! We don't even know if he's still alive Nick and that bitch is sitting in there drinking hot coffee!"

Nick was rightfully taking back by Catherine's frazzled anger. He was happy to hear that she had gotten the confession out of Monica and wanted to applaud her for that, but at this point, Nick didn't know what he could do to help her. "Well what do you want to do? You had the conversation with her that was off the record."

"I don't give a damn about that Nick," she screamed back at him. "I just want to find him," she hopelessly said as she slumped down in the chair at Greg's desk.

There was silence in the room for a minute as neither of them knew what to say at this point, but Nick had been considering something while Catherine had been questioning Monica and at this moment, he was questioning whether or not to say anything. But before he could say anything, Catherine once again went on another one of her hopeless rants. "You know I was hoping that maybe she would be able to give us something that would explain where Greg was but if anything, it's just further confirmed that Greg has gotten the shit end of the stick in this and he has to go through this for no god damn reason."

"Well I have an idea," Nick then finally suggested seeing that now at this point, it would be better to even consider his plan then to keep it to himself and do nothing at all. "What if we called Grissom?" Nick suggested with a voice that held hope.

Instantly Catherine's head snapped up and she held a look of disappointment in her eyes. "What is he going to do Nick?" she hissed out with a snide and skeptical tone.

Nick wasn't shy to admit to himself that he was intimidated by his supervisor at this moment, but he also wasn't shy to explain his thinking when it came to brining Grissom down to the lab. "Well he was Calvin's original target, and not only did he work the case, but he was also the one who talked to Calvin five years ago," he then suggested with an optimistic attitude.

It was then that Catherine choked out a cocky laugh. "Do you really think Grissom is going to have all the answers?" Catherine once again retorted, carrying out her bleak and dismal attitude.

"No I don't think he is going to have all of the answers but are we really in the position to turn down any help that we can get right now?" Nick then proudly reasoned. "I mean think back to my kidnapping; the whole lab was bending over backwards to find me. Right now, it's mainly just you and me. I just think it would be helpful to get everyone together to help find Greg."

"Well Langston is probably going to be helping now too seeming that our cases are connected," she both reminded and suggested.

"But Langston doesn't know a damn thing that's been going on," Nick retorted, not against the help that Langston could provide, but in all awareness there wasn't a whole lot that Langston could offer at this point. "Grissom worked the case five years ago; he monitored Greg and passed him for his first proficiency. Grissom knows this case," Nick reasonably challenged.

"So you really think that we need to give him a call and see if he'll come down here?" Catherine then asked once again, confirming if this was really the rode that Nick wanted to take in finding Greg.

"Is it something that could hurt trying?" Nick then suggested with a valiant grin. "Greg needs all the help that he can get right now."

Catherine was silent for a moment as she began to fully consider what Nick was suggesting. She wasn't blind to the fact that Nick had been making some very strong points that this moment, but a part of her didn't want to make the call due to her own self pride. It hadn't even been a year yet since Grissom had left the lab leaving her in charge and she didn't want to call him asking for help. She felt that if she did so, she would be saying that she wasn't cut out for the job and she needed help from her old supervisor because she simply couldn't find someone. But further considering what she was thinking, this someone was Greg, someone that meant a lot to everyone. Coming to this conclusion, she realized that Nick was right, that at this moment, it was about finding Greg and that he was someone who needed all the help that he could get.

"I'll make the call," she then said with a subtle grin as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. As she searched through her phone book, for a moment she was considering to directly call Grissom, but she then decided that it would be better to call Sara seeming that she was already back at the lab and involved with her team once again. As she dialed her number, she didn't have to wait long before she heard the familiar voice on the other line answer the phone.

"Hey Catherine," Sara had greeted upon answering her number and seeing that it was her boss back in Vegas.

A heavy sigh swarmed her breath as she heard her cheerful tone on the other end. It had finally begun to register with her that she was going to have to tell Sara the devastating news about Greg and instantly, she didn't know how she was going to do it. Merely answering her with the very meek tone that was in her dismal spirit, she responded back to her colleague, "Hi Sara."

The hesitancy and the unsettling nature in Catherine's voice wasn't shy to raise a red flag to Sara and she was instantly concerned. "Is everything alright Catherine?"

"Listen," she firstly said, preparing Sara and making sure that she would have her full attention. "I know you're on your time off and that you just got back to Paris, but Nick and I, we really need you to come back, and as soon as you can."

Sara was fully aware to the desperation in Catherine's voice, but she figured that it was an eleven hour flight to Vegas and if she needed help immediately, she wasn't going to get it from her right away. "Are you guy's short staff right now or what?" she then asked, wanting explanation for why her expertises were needed.

"We're a bit but that's not the problem. That's not why we need you to come down," Catherine partially explained.

"Then why do you need me to come down there?" Sara then asked, rightfully beginning to pry around the reason for why Catherine had requested her presence but was withhold the very information from her.

Once again, Catherine felt like she had been backed up into a corner and didn't know how to get out. Sara was up front asking for an explanation, but she couldn't bring herself to find an easy way to answer her. "Sara, there is no easy way that I can answer this," she firstly pointed out, though also attempting to prepare Sara for the news she was about to hear.

What Catherine had said had taken her back a bit, hearing that what was going on was something that was very serious. "Catherine, what's going on?" Sara then firmly demanded to know.

"This morning at 12:30, Nick and Greg were assigned a case at the beginning of shift and it turned out that the crime scene had been staged. Greg's been kidnapped and has been missing now for about 18 hours," Catherine explained with a somber and sensitive voice.

Silence over came the phone call for a moment once Catherine had said this as Sara immediately felt stuck in a state of shock. Thinking back to everything that Greg had been put through over the years with this job from his accidental lab explosion, to when he tried to be the hero and save a person's from being attacked to only becoming the very victim himself, Greg had clearly had his fair share of being put through the ringer, and in now way did he deserve to now be kidnapped. "Do you know if he's alright?" she cautiously asked, her voice covered with worry now.

"Nick was able to talk to him about 30 minutes ago," Catherine informed.

"Well that's good," Sara pointed out with a faint glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Yeah, but you can only tell so much from a phone call. Yes he's still breathing, but it doesn't tell us how much longer he's going to be breathing for," Catherine dismally pointed out. "He's already taken a pretty severe beating and we don't even know the half of what he's been through."

"Do you know why he's been kidnapped? Has a ransom been made or anything?"

"I wish a ransom had been made," Catherine replied as she choked on a frustrated laugh. "It would have made all this a lot easier. But unfortunately, the guy who kidnapped Greg is doing it for revenge purposes."

"Why does he want revenge against Greg?" Sara then asked as she was unable to put together in her mind why someone would want revenge against a person like Greg.

"Well he's more so trying to avenge his brother's death from five years ago, and Greg was involved," Catherine firstly pointed out. "And with saying that, I also have to point out that Grissom was involved."

"Is Grissom in danger?" Sara immediately felt inclined to ask.

"We don't believe so," Catherine mentioned so to ease Sara's mind for the time being. "But I am also calling to ask if now only you could come down, but if Grissom would as well."

"I don't see why he wouldn't be able to. Here, let me put him on the phone for you and you can talk to him," she then suggested as she made her way to Grissom's study where she knew her husband was. As she entered his favorite room for solitude, his eye immediately glanced up from one of his entomology books. The look in her eyes though, he was expecting to meet this. Grissom instantly became concerned as he saw his lovely Sara standing before him, clutching the phone in her hand.

"Sara, what's wrong," he asked with concern.

"You and I need to be on the first flight to Vegas," Sara plainly said.

Grissom's brow furrowed once she had simply stated this. Seeing the phone in her hand, he then began to grow curious. "Who's on the phone?"

"It's Catherine," she said as she then handed the phone to him. "She's got some news and would like to talk to you."

Grissom sat there for a brief moment in confusion as he felt he was already given a lot that he needed to process. After taking that brief moment to piece together what information he had been offered though, his hand extended out and grabbed the phone that had been offered to him. "Hi Catherine," he answered with a subtle smile as he eased back into his chair, happy to be able to speak to not just his old colleague, but his old friend.

"It's great to hear from you Grissom," Catherine humbly greeted. "Nick's here too and says hi as well.

"Well Sara says that you have some news for me; is everything alright," he then asked, seriousness growing thick in his tone.

"No," she firstly blurted out. "No actually, everything isn't alright at the moment. Times have surely been better."

Hearing this, his eyes had become narrow and his face became hard. "What's going on?" The tone in Catherine's voice was beginning to say it all and Grissom had a feeling that he knew where this conversation was about to head. "Is everyone alright?" he then asked.

Once she heard Grissom ask this, his thoughts had been stopped in place. Her mind was frozen as she didn't know how to respond to his matter once again. Did she answer him and blatantly tell him that his old colleague had been kidnapped, or did she explain the situation first. One fact remained the same though; she hated it then and she hated it now, how Grissom would always know what you were about to say even before you said it.

"Well let me start off with this," she finally said, making up her mind and now presenting an introduction for her explanation. "Five years ago, do you remember a case you worked dealing with an Aaron Richards?"

"Of course I do," Grissom replied with a grin a proud reminiscence as he thought back to the case and his once wannabe CSI. "How could I forget? It was Greg's first proficiency."

Catherine smiled when Grissom pointed out this fact, but her smile quickly died though as she thought about what that case how now led to. "But do you remember the case?" Catherine then asked, returning her attention to the moment at hand.

"Aaron had been convicted of raping a minor even though he persistently pleaded his innocence, and when he was killed in prison two weeks later, that investigation had led to the question of whether or not Aaron had been set up."

Catherine smiled once she heard that Grissom had perfectly remembered the case from five years ago. "That's great that you remember the case, but do you also remember who Calvin Richards was?"

"He was Aaron's brother," Grissom firstly pointed out. "I was also the only one who had talked to him back then."

"Do you remember that conversation?" Catherine then questioned as she kept her fingers crossed hoping for an uplifting response.

Grissom was silent once again, though he was not thinking about if he had remembered the conversation that had taken place five years ago, but rather what was the meaning behind all of Catherine's questions. "I do remember the conversation, but I want an explanation now for this conversation. Catherine, what's going on? What happened?" he firmly demanded to know.

Realizing that she was now backed up into the same corner yet again, she knew that she was going to have to explain to Grissom what had happened to Greg. Taking in a deep, heavy breath, she then prepared herself to answer Grissom. "Well Calvin, he kinda decided to avenge his brother's death in a way. We got two cases this morning that had turned out to be connected. Monica Brush, the girl who claimed that Aaron had raped her had been raped this morning and not only that, but Nick and Greg were assigned their crime scene that had ended up being staged. Well this morning at about 12:30, Calvin kidnapped Greg."

"How long has he been missing for?" Grissom then immediately asked.

Catherine was surprised by Grissom's response, having him just get right into a question rather then sulk in this news like everyone else had, but then she reminded herself of who she was talking to; the one guy that knew how to distance his emotions from this job. "Greg has been missing for about 18 hours," she then answered.

"Do you know if he's alive?"

"Nick actually was able to talk to him about 30 minutes ago."

"Has Calvin shown any intention to kill Greg?"

"Not really," Catherine firstly pointed out, realizing that Calvin really hadn't shown any intention to kill Greg. "Well he sent us a video after Greg had been missing for six hours and he told us that he was going to give us the chance that we never gave him. We're confident in our assumption that Aaron who Calvin was referencing to," Catherine then felt inclined to point out.

"Well let me ask you this Catherine. You guys seem to know what's going on and have everything under control; why do you need me to come down there?"

"There are a couple reasons. First off, when we searched Calvin's basement, we found a couple crates with photos and documentation and a lot of the pictures are of you. When we talked to Greg, he also said that he wasn't the original target."

"And you think I was the original target?" Grissom then suggested, expressing what he was hearing from Catherine.

"We're positive that you were," she suggested. "And secondly," she then began to say, but quickly began to choke on her own words. "Grissom we need help. A lot has happened right now and we need all the help we can get. You know the case and you talked to Calvin five years ago; you know what he was like then."

"I can't process anything or work the case," he reminded her.

"Just to have you here would mean a lot and we know you'll help us find him."

Silence once again overcame the two; Grissom pondering whether he should go or not and Catherine holding her breath praying that Grissom would be out here on the first flight. Catherine then heard the sweet sound of a conformation. "Then Sara and I will be on the first flight to Las Vegas."

Releasing a heavy, overwhelming sigh of relief, Catherine blurted out, "Oh my god thank you so much Grissom, really, thank you."

A smile swept over Grissom once he heard the gratitude in her voice, and before he hung up the phone, he humbly reminded her, "We might not be a team anymore, but we're still family."

* * *

And that concludes Chapter 23… and that means that Chapter 24 is THE ANGSTTACULAR ESCAPE SCENE! FOR SURE IT IS NEXT CHAPTER SO YOUR GUYS CAN WAIT WITH THAT ON YOUR MIND NOW! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Question: What are you're guy's views/opinions/comments on Monica? Just curious as to what you guys think about her. I had actually created her on a whim while I was writing the last chapter and it ended up adding to the plot nicely :)! So yeah, let me know :D!

Now to express my appreciation for my readers :D!

For adding TPMG to your favorites list, thank you CSI Burrell.

For alerting TPMG, many thanks to imcrazyandiknowit, PHENOMENIAN-SHIRO, and Chibi-Roy-Chan.

And for the reviews, thank you VisionX23, StarlitWave10, imcrazyandiknowit, WMG, JodsRaine, ilovemiax, csifreak1234, abby, and crimescenelover. Keep the reviews coming as I can't get enough of them :D!

Comments for Reviews:

Imcrazyandiknowit: I am pretty sure that I caught all the scenes/seens for this chapter ha ha… I am starting to check it more now too :)! Also, I sent you a rivate message… just to let you know :)!

WMG: For one… GO AND CHECK HCGJ! I KNOW THE THREAD KINDA DIED BUT I FOUND THE WHOLE MOVIE OF TRUE VINYL! LINKS ARE ON THE THREAD! GO GO GO AND WATCH IT CAUSE YEAH, THE MOVIE IS AMAZING! Oh, and for the review…. You'll LOVE in pain Greg's final torture scene… SPOILER ALERT: there is a little something dealing with a crowbar and yeah, I don't think it's going to disappoint… but yeah, it's also where my cruelty reaches like its ULTIMATE prime! I am one vicious sadist!

JodsRaine: YOU TOO, GO AND CHECK HCGJ! I FOUND LINKS FOR THE WHOLE MOVIE OF TRUE VINYL AND THE MOVIE IS SPECTACULAR… I mean, it is a 90's movie so the cheezyness is most definitely there at times, but the movie is just… I MEAN COME ON! IT'S GREG, ONLY NOT AS GREG BUT STILL! Oh, and I just loved every comment that you made with your review… it made me laugh at times so as always, thanks :D!

Abby: I know you said that the whole avenging thing is still a little foggy but I hoped this chapter helped clear it up a bit :)! By the end though, the whole plot will make perfect sense :D! And I'm happy that you liked the dedication :D!

crimescenelover: Alright I know I know my story is long okay… I can't help it though… I have a lot to say ha ha :) The suspense is far from being over though, especially in the next two to three chapters… like seriously, these chapters will be the definition of suspense!


	24. The Only Chance

Hello to my readers once again. I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long and I apologize if I have. You know, I thought I would have all this free time seeming that I am out of school till January, but hell working a seasonal position at a major department store can really consume your time. But hey, I'm making money for holiday spending :D! And speaking of the holidays, I hope everyone is having a happy holidays :D!

Anyway, enough blabbering, time to get serious here. I guess with what I am about to say, a little bit of the Grinch in me is gonna come out here. Don't worry, this is the escape chapter so I didn't trick you guys or anything, but I tam gonna get a little threatening here… if I don't reach 200 reviews with this chapter I will DELETE The Puppet Masters Game! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No I don't think I would do something that severe! But hey guys, as a Christmas wish, I would love to reach 200 reviews :D!

So yeah, enjoy chapter 24… and now enjoy reading about Greg's escape that I've promised you all for the longest time :D!

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**Chapter 24: The Only Chance**

It was a night of carelessness and sweet serenity for Calvin, Mark, and Dave. With Greg in the other room and with him out of sight, out of mind, the three men took to the laid back essence of having utter control over everything and took a night for them selves. With a fridge stocked with beer, a box of cigars, and a poker set, the three of them indulged them selves in their moment without a care.

As the night carried on, with the liquor inducing their minds and with the physical and emotional exhaustion that they had all faced at some point or another, the three of them began to drift off into their own slumber. With Mark and Calvin, having not slept sense they had kidnapped Greg around twenty-one hours ago, they were well due for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, and that was exactly what they received.

Having gotten that night's deep relaxing slumber, Calvin was the first one that began to wake up. Looking at the clock and seeing that it read 7:00 o'clock, it instantly registered with him that he had gotten a full ten hours of sleep. Getting up, he slowly made his way into the bathroom where he began to refresh himself. After relieving himself, he turned on the sink and splashed some cool water on his face. Once he left the bathroom, he then made his way down to the doorway at the end of the hall and entered the room that was on the other side. He wasn't in the room for more then two minutes before he came back out where a fresh set of jeans and a clean grey tee-shirt and a black sweatshirt.

As he shut the bedroom door behind him, Calvin was then going to make his way back into the living room, but as he passed the door on his left, which was the room that held his captive, he couldn't resist himself from opening the door. As he unlocked the door, he peered in to take a harmless peek at Greg, and his soul contorted with a disturbed sense of glee once he saw him laying there sound asleep. Seeing the vulnerable display before him, Calvin knew that he couldn't resist the temptation to mess with his sleeping captive.

With silent footsteps, Calvin approached Greg and he simply stopped right in front of him and studied his unfortunate victim. His mattered face was caked with bruises and dried blood and his body wasn't much different. His flesh looked cold and discolored and it visually embodied the pain that he had suffered through. Looking at his binds, Calvin had noticed his wrists. There was a grey and purple tint to them just at the edge where the tape had met his skin. Then as he noticed his hands, they were completely limp and the look of strained red had completely faded from earlier and now held the hue of numbing ice blue. Calvin did show a mild concern for this as he didn't want to suffocate Greg's limbs, but when his attention was caught else where, the thought simply escaped his mind.

All of a sudden, Calvin saw Greg begin to squirm around in his chair a bit; shifting positions in his sleep. Calvin just watched in fascination as he observed Greg unconsciously try to change his position with his restricted movement. He would try to shift his legs in one direction, but then there was a pull against his wrist and Calvin could see the discomforting grimace against his face. Then to top it all off, Calvin's attention was drawn to Greg's lips and as he gazed in pride at his new found sick idea for a gag, he saw Greg purse his lips and then effortlessly tug at the glue. It was the subtlest of movement, but it sent a sublime grin to his face and filled his cold heart with a warm sense of satisfaction.

With his self pride and ego feeling like it was on cloud nine, Calvin once again returned to admiring his creation. With his eyes scrutinizing every square inch of Greg's body, his mind blissfully reminisced on all the events that had taken place. It was astounding to him as he became fully aware of his lists of accomplishment and realizing that all that had happened to Greg happened within the first 18 hours of his captivity, but altogether now, Greg had been in his possession for 30 hours.

In the midst of his reminiscence though, Calvin was then slightly startled when he heard a voice out of no where that came from behind him. "We leaving soon?" Calvin heard Mark ask him as he entered the room.

"You could of knocked you know; you half scared me to death," Calvin irritably snapped at Mark in a hushed tone so not to disturb Greg and his slumber.

"Sorry," Mark then carelessly apologized.

"Is Dave ready?"

"Just about," he first answered. "He'll be fine like this right?" Mark then asked, gesturing his head toward Greg. "He won't be able to get or anything?"

"He's way too weak Mark," Calvin pointed out with a laugh that mocked the mere thought of the possibility. "If he managed to escape, it would be a god damn miracle."

Mark rightfully nodded his head in understanding. "Well I'll be waiting in the living room alright," he said as he turned around and headed for the door.

Seeing Mark leave, Calvin was about ready to do the same, but when he casually put his hand into his pocket, he felt the tube of super glue that he had forgot was in his pocket. Holding the adhesive in his hand, he started to contemplate whether or not he should use it again. The sadistic part of him clearly wanted to as he took pleasure out of tormenting Greg, but for once, the human side of him debated his though and suggested that there wasn't any use for it at the moment. As his mind was debating which decision he should choose, Calvin had unscrewed the cap off the glue and with a gentle squeeze, a small dot of the liquid adhesive formed at the tip. After seeing that, it took little convincing other wise and Calvin knew exactly what he wanted to do with it.

Approaching Greg, Calvin gently cupped his chin and lifted up his head ever so slightly. Once he had done this though, it was then that Calvin had noticed the small split in the glue and there was also a small streak of blood that faded into his chin. Seeing this, it was clear to him that it seemed as if Greg was trying to break the glue and had possibly almost succeeded. After coming to this conclusion, Calvin immediately placed the tip of the super glue's tube against Greg's lips once again and began to apply the strong adhesive, evenly spreading it along his surface like before.

Once Calvin was finished spreading the glue along the dry surface and like before, he began to blow on Greg's lips to dry the adhesive. When Calvin noticed that there was still a wet glisten from the glue, he then realized that the adhesive wasn't going to dry properly, at least not without something to bind its self to. Looking for an alternative method, his eyes began to glance throughout the room, and it didn't take long at all for Calvin to find that thing that was going to offer him assistance in affectively sealing Greg's mouth.

With a malicious grin of excitement, he took a few steps forward and approached the tool box where he found that magnificent super glue and grabbed the roll of duct tape that was still sitting on top. As he turned back around, Calvin had then noticed that Greg was beginning to restlessly stir in his chair. Coming to the conclusion that he was beginning to wake up, once again his disturbed mind conjured up a devious way to fully awake his dazed captive.

Taking a firm hold on the roll of tape, Calvin curled his fingers under the edge of the adhesive and with a quick and vicious pull, a long strip of tape glistened before his eyes. As he had ripped the tape from its roll though, Calvin saw from the corner of his eye Greg's head jerk up after hearing the abrupt noise. His eyes were still heavy though, but as they finally began to flutter open and his mind took to processing the sight before him.

"Morning Greggo," Calvin cheerfully greeted as he was brandishing the adhesive strip just above Greg's mouth. Although his captive was just waking up, it was clear that his mind had instantly brought him to his sense of full awareness once he realized what was in front of him. His muscles froze and his eyes glanced at the tape in alarming fear as he did his best to prepare himself for the silencer. Without wasting another second, Calvin had then placed the piece of tape over Greg's mouth.

As soon as the adhesive was pressed up against his captive's skin, the feeling of dominance was rather intimate for Calvin, holding the power of restriction, humiliation and utter control. With his heavy hands, he began to run them along the slick tape, smoothly binding the adhesive with the flesh, though with the area around Greg's mouth, Calvin wanted to take extra care with. Taking a hold of Greg's head with his hands, he forced his captive to look at him with his broken eyes while he slowly glided his thumbs over Greg's lips, applying just the right amount of pressure, and making sure that the two glues melted together and created their solid bind.

"How does it feel?" Calvin calmly asked with a genuine sense of intrigue as his fingers smoothly glided along the length of the tape.

Already feeling degraded as it was having the tape over his mouth and sealing away his voice, it was then humiliating to have Calvin play and tease that very restriction. His touch was extremely discomforting and made his skin viciously quiver, but finally Greg couldn't tolerate it anymore and swiftly jerked his head away and out from under Calvin's touch. Once he did this though, Calvin gave him an aggravated glare. Having done this very action in the past and after seeing the same angered stare from his Master, Greg's stomach muscles clenched as he anticipated the awaited punch to the stomach. But before he could have his breath stolen from him, Greg looked up at Calvin with vulnerable eyes and began to shake his head. "Why," he then brokenly tried to muffle, but the second after he made the pathetic attempt to question his captor, his voice broke into a humiliating sob.

"Well I can't have you hollering for help now can I?" Calvin cooed with a playful voice and a twisted grin. Then without another word, Calvin set the glue and tape back into the toolbox, turned back around, and headed for the door.

With the sick coo in Calvin's voice and then his arrogance with him choosing to now leave the room, it had set Greg on the edge for tolerance for his taunting behavior. Unable to release his frustration in any other way, Greg resorted to thrashing his body in the chair. His body began to buck in the chair and his wrists viciously pulled against the chairs arms that they were bound to. It was all in efforts of utter desperation to free him self from the chair, but in the back of his mind, he knew this was a futile effort.

In his efforts though, the miraculous happened. With a harsh thrash against the left chair arm, it had caused something that held the chair arm firmly in place to become loose. Greg then heard a ding coming from the floor, and with a quick glimpse to his side, he noticed that it was a screw. Seeing this, it had unexpectedly filled him with an uplifting sense of hope for once, but he instantly realized that it could just as easily be shattered. Calvin, who was leaving, had stopped at the door, and Greg figured that it could have been because of him hearing the screw hitting the floor. Regardless of what the circumstance was, the fact remained the same. If Calvin saw that the chair arm was loose, then he could very easily prevent that possibility and eliminate any chance that he had to escape.

Choosing that he needed to distract Calvin, Greg instantly began to cry again. Looking at Calvin with eyes not completely filled with a pseudo sense of agony, Greg then embellished his tears with a tug against his restrained wrists and a pitiful plea. "Please… please let me go," he attempted to muffle.

Hearing Greg's plea and clearing making it out, Calvin laughed. "Awww, you can't get out now can you?" Calvin then cooed. Calvin finding the binds that Greg was in to be excepting to the naked eye, he turned on his heal and then left the room, locking the door behind him.

As soon as he heard the lock on the door, Greg finally slumped back and relaxed in the chair. Being left alone, his forced crying had immediately stopped. He wasn't shy to mentally admit that he thought it was pathetic that he was now able to make himself cry that easily on the spot like he just did, but he figured that it was worth the shame if he could manage to escape.

With a deep breath to calm him self down, he then fixated his attention on the left chair arm that kept his wrist bound. Studying it first off, he saw that it was indeed one of the screws that had come undone and it had made the chair arm far more maneuverable. He began to figure that with time, he could manage to wiggle it loose and possibly loosen the other screws that kept the chair arm attached. It would be a time consuming effort, but he figured that if it could lead to his escape, then it would be well worth it.

In an instant though, his plan had drastically changed when he heard the conversation that was taking place outside of his prison's walls.

"David, get your shit man, let's go," he heard someone order. Following that, he then heard what sounded to be a garage door opening and then after that, what he figured was the front door slamming shut. At this moment, Greg was simply frozen in anticipation. He didn't want his mind to get too carried away, but it had sounded to him as if his three captors were leaving the house, which meant that they would be leaving him alone.

With silence filling the atmosphere that he was consumed in, his ears were firmly trained to listen for any sounds that were taking place outside of his room. There were a couple more sounds he thought he had heard, such as a car door opening, an engine starting, the garage door shutting, and most of all, the sound of a car driving away. After that point, it was as if everything around him was just silence.

Unsure if this was really happening right now, Greg remained completely frozen in anticipation for just something to happen, but when the atmosphere remained still, Greg finally questioned the supposedly empty house. He started to yell as loud as his lungs would allow him to just to confirm his solitude, testing this fact by seeing if anyone would try to shut him up. But just like before, nothing happened; the house stayed still and it was clear that he was alone.

With his mind already set on the fact that he needed to try to escape, he immediately took to the seriousness of this fact and began his trial for freedom.

The first thing that entered his mind was to see if he could get somebody's attention. Originally, he didn't think that he was around any means of civilization, but after Calvin's comment about keeping him quiet so that he couldn't holler for help, it gave the impression that he did have the opportunity to do so. Taking in a deep breath and screaming as loud as he could, he began his efforts in trying to get someone's attention. "HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEONE, I'M IN HERE! PLEASE! HELP!" he screamed out as coherently as he could.

Greg had carried out his yelling for a minute or two, but when everything around him continued to remain still, it seemed to be a clear assumption that there wasn't anyone that was going to help him. Greg came to the full awareness that if he was going to escape, it would have to be entirely on his bidding; he had to save his own life.

Instantly, without a second though, the alternate method to his escape was going to be the loose chair arm. Having the house to himself, he was thankful for this opportunity to fully expose his desperation for freedom and he furiously began to thrash around the left chair arm. It was already loose to begin with, so he figured with a few good tugs and a bit of thrashing would be enough to break the chair arm free.

It was clear though that this wasn't as easy of a task as it had posed to be in his mind. The chair arm seemed as if it wasn't going anywhere. Granted, it was a little loose, but not enough to break it off. With his growing awareness of this fact, frustration and panic began to weld up inside of Greg and when the chair arm still wasn't breaking, he finally resorted to thrashing around his whole body. He didn't know exactly what he was going to accomplish by doing this, but he at least felt like he was releasing his desperation and he was hoping that maybe some good could come out of his efforts. To him though, these efforts quickly began to seem as if they were failing. It didn't take long before the chair began to rock back and forth a bit, and with the right amount of force, it was finally sent plummeting to the ground.

Greg remained completely still at first. At this moment, he felt failed and pathetic. The chair that he was bound to, it seemed like a makeshift chair as he never really saw one like this one before. It was like an old, outdoor metal recliner chair with a slanted back, but it didn't have a foot rest. It was also sitting a high five feet from the ground and was supported by weird metal legs. Having fallen to the ground while sitting bound to a chair that sat five feet from the ground, the fall was a harsh one. His head had hit the ground upon impact and his shoulder with his old knife wound firmly came into contact with the hard cement. The numb pain was outrageous and he couldn't help but applaud himself for at least getting his hand out of the way, finding it hard to imagine what that fall would have done to his hand if it had been crushed between the chair and the concrete floor. At this moment, feeling broken and defeated, there was nothing more that he felt he wanted to do other then lay there in his numb position.

There was one fact that was perfectly clear to him and that was that he was stuck. He couldn't even begin to try to piece together a solution for how he was going to save him self now. With laying on his right side, it was clear that his right arm was utterly useless and thrashing his body in the chair wasn't going to do a damn thing, except maybe cause him more pain, which was the last thing he needed.

Coming to the conclusion that at this point he was utterly useless to himself, Greg rested his head on the floor and tried to allow his mind to wander free of his prison. The wandering didn't entirely help though as the first thought that came to his mind was what was Calvin going to think once he saw him like this, let alone what was he going to do to him? As soon as he would walk in this room, it would be instantly clear to him that he had tried to escape and having that as a fact that simply couldn't be avoided; he could only grimace as he thought about how Calvin was going to punish him.

Greg's first thought was death, but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to the conclusion that Calvin would try to kill him over a failed escape attempt. If anything, Calvin was going to target something that was going to be a more personal asset to him. He could senselessly beat him again and maybe break another rib or two, but once again he doubted his own thinking. Greg knew that Calvin knew where to take his torture and when it would reach that point of being too far. Granted, when he had strangled him, that was a moment when he though he was in for death, but other then that, Calvin was rather aware of the condition he was in. Beating his chest in, he was near a point where if he broke a rib, it could puncture a lung and then it would be good riddance world. The only other thing he could think of Calvin breaking were his arms or legs, seeming that they both strongly benefited him in his efforts of survival. Without either of them, escape would be something that would be out of the question.

This very thought is what then hit him. Through the midst of his sick thoughts of consideration what Calvin might do to him, as he thought about his legs, it had then registered with him that they weren't bound to the chair. Quickly putting together a plan for escape using his bound but free legs, he instantly began to act.

Bringing his bound legs up so that they touched his chest, Greg then began to twist his body to the side so that he was basically lying on top of his pinned right arm. It was clear that the pressure that he was putting against his trapped arm and the strain that was against his wounded shoulder was remarkably uncomfortable, but it was surprisingly an easy effort to put aside the pain once he fixated his mind on his plan for freedom.

With this body now in position, Greg then began to kick the left chair arm with his legs as he figured with enough strength and force, he could easily break off the loose chair arm and continue his escape from there. It took a lot of force to even loosen the arm just a fraction more then what it was before and by the sixth strong kick, Greg was beginning to doubt if his plan was going to work, but with his growing frustration and desperation, the adrenaline fueling his fire, with his ninth kick, the metal chair arm broke free and his left arm was detached from the chair.

His eyes glistened with shock as he realized that his plan had worked. At first it took a second for him to realize what exactly happened, but when it had fully registered in his mind, Greg initially began to laugh. With a state of shock and awe overwhelming his senses, his laughter had then started to turn into crying as he realized that he was now well on his way to freedom. Having this be such an outstanding achievement, Greg wanted to bask in this triumph for a moment, but he quickly snapped back into reality when he realized that time was of its finest essence right now and he immediately began to try to figure out how he was going to now free his other arm.

It was clear that in order to free his right arm, he was going to need to flip the chair over so that either it's back or onto the left side. Seeming that the chair its self was rather heavy, he knew that the best way to flip the chair onto another side would be if he got a steady momentum going. Greg instantly began to rock his body back and forth and it didn't take much of an effort to get the chair flipped onto its back.

Once he had successfully accomplished this task, Greg had brought his legs forward and sat down on the back of the chair. With his left hand that still had the chair arm attached to it, using that hand Greg began to make the effort at unwrapping the tape from around his right wrist. He started off at trying to find the edge of the tape so that it could be unwrapped, but as he was trying to do this, it was then that Greg noticed how numb his hands really were.

It was as if his hand was frozen and even the slightest twitch would send a painful throb through his swollen wrist. It was like his binds not only restrained his arms, but his hands too, completely restricting there movement as well, all the way up to the tips of his fingers. He tried his best to move his fingers, but it seemed like a near impossible effort. Greg instantly felt like he was at that verge of giving up, but when he began to consider his predicament and the fact that he had already gotten this far in is attempt to escape, then he wasn't in any position to quit.

The pain still wasn't showing any chance of subsiding but as Greg was able to focus his mind on finding the end of the tape, the pain wasn't as intense. It had taken a moment for him to find the end strip, but once he did, Greg realized that the real challenge was now beginning. Seeming that the tape had been wrapped around his wrists so many times, it was a sticky complication to have to unwrap it nine times. It was also challenging seeming that he was doing it with his non-dominate left hand that was half-dead and had a heavy, clunky chair arm attached to it; all frustrating factors that contributed to making this so task difficult.

When he finally got the tape completely removed though, as much of an accomplishment that was, without a second of hesitation, Greg immediately undid the belt strap that held his suffocated wrist. Once the belt strap had been completely released from his wrist, it instantly began to throb with delight and Greg felt like his hand could finally breathe again. With his right hand now free from its restrains, Greg had noticed with a proud heart that he had now completely freed himself from the chair.

After he took a moment for some of the numbness in his hand to wear off, Greg then began to work on freeing his left hand. As expected, it proved to be a far easier for him to free his left hand as not only was he now using his dominate right hand to free his wrist, but there wasn't a heavy chair arm attached to a suffocating wrist. In less then a minute, his left hand had been completely freed as well.

The last thing that he needed to do was to free his legs and he figured that it would be easy for him to find something in this room that he could use to cut the tape from his legs. After looking around for a second, Greg then saw a pair of broken scissors lying on the ground over by the door. Kicking the chair out of the way, Greg scooted over to where the scissors were and as he grabbed them, he began to saw through the tape that bound his knees and ankles.

Realizing that it was official, that he was completely free, Greg wasted no time in reaching for the door to leave the room. When the door wouldn't open, he wasn't surprised to find it locked, but he was purely frustrated to this fact as this was the last thing that he wanted to have to tackle. As a simple vent, he kicked the door to release his anger and then turned his attention to figuring out how he was going to escape this room.

It really was a helpful fact being in a room full of tools and such, and the first thing that had caught his eye was a chain saw which he figured he could use to just saw the door down, but as he tried to start it, he quickly discovered that it was out of gas. Having to move on to a plan B, Greg began to search around the room a bit more and then he found a drill. The first thing that came to mind was that he could probably screw off the door hinges and then he would be able to move the door out of the door frame and he would be able to get out of the room that way. Starting up the drill, he quickly removed all the screws and hinges from the door frame and in just a minute or two, the door was out of its frame and his escape was presented to him.

The first thing that was on Greg's mind was to find a phone as he wanted to give Nick a call but he quickly realized that doing that was only going to be so much help if he couldn't talk. With his knowledge of science and chemicals presenting it's self, he knew that acetone was the solvent for any type of adhesive, but most importantly, super glue. Seeming that he was in a room with tools and workman's equipment, he figured that he could maybe find a bottle of it somewhere within the cupboards and shelves. The other alternative was nail polish remover but seeming that this was a house filled with men, that wasn't something he figured he was going to find.

Looking around for a bit, he couldn't find any acetone in any cupboards or drawers, but he also knew that hot soapy water would also be enough to do the trick. Leaving the room, this was the first time that he was able to see what this house looked like. Looking to his right, he saw a door that he assumed led to a bedroom and looking to his left, he saw the rest of the hallway and at the end he saw the living room. Walking toward the living room, he then passed a door on his left that was open and as he peered inside, he saw that it was a bathroom.

Without a second though, he went into the bathroom and turned on the hot water and waited for it to warm up. As he stood there though, waiting on the water, Greg knew that there was a mirror that was right in front of him. His eyes were firmly fixed on the drain in the sink, but his mind was growing curious as to whether he should look at his reflection or not. He wanted to see how badly broken he looked but the other part of him was clearly too terrified to look. Curiosity won though and he finally looked up to face his reflection.

He didn't even think he looked at himself for even a second for as soon as his eyes met his face, he instantly turned his attention else where. But of course, one person couldn't look at something once without looking at it again, so he hesitantly looked into the mirror once again and saw the unrecognizable flesh before him.

The look was weird, seeing tape over his mouth, but it wasn't as weird as it was to see his face the way that it was. He had a vicious black eye and his jaw looked swollen. There were also bruises and a few cuts along his temple and the skin on his left cheek was covered with dried blood and the flesh was rubbed raw, but part of it was covered up by the tape. There was also a small trail of blood under his nose and all in all, he was thankful that his nose wasn't broken again. He also finally saw the burn on his neck, but that seemed clearly over shadowed by the deep swelling and bruising around his neck from when he assumed Calvin had strangled him. It was an understatement for him to think that his flesh had been mutilated, and he unfortunately knew more pain was to come as he tried to remove the solid combination of adhesives between the tape and glue from his mouth.

Seeing the steam from the water arise from beneath him, he tested the water and feeling satisfied with the temperature, he then started to peel away the tape from his mouth. Once Greg had reached a certain point, he leaned down toward the sink's faucet and ran the water at the crease where his skin met the tape. This was proving to be an effective method, but where it had become more difficult was when the tape had met the glue, and Greg knew exactly when he had reached that point.

It felt like a thousand needles were pricking them selves around his lips as he continued to pull the glue away from his mouth. There was really only so much that he could do as the water alone wasn't entirely working and he could really only clench his jaw and bare the pain. Trying something new though, Greg began to use his fingers and started to pick at the dried glue. It instantly proved to be a far more effective method and as the water weakened the threads of the adhesives his fingers picked away the residue.

Having now made substantial progress, Greg was proud to see that he was approaching the halfway mark, but noticing that he was at this point, it had dawned on him that this was also where he had split his lips. Realizing this, his mind was fixed solely on this task and his efforts to remove the tape had become more delicate, choosing to take special care so not to split his lip again.

Then all of a sudden, in the midst of the silent house, there was an alarming crash. The second when Greg heard this, his adrenaline had immediately spiked and panic had consumed his mind, and as a reaction to his fear, his head had snapped up and he had unintentionally ripped the rest of the tape from his mouth. Instantly, Greg wanted to scream out once he had done this, the stinging pain now swarming the left half of his lips, but his fear for the noise beyond the safe walls of the bathroom, he had managed to resist the temptation that his vocal cords were begging for.

Turning off the sink, he silently listened to see if he could hear anything from outside of the bathroom, but when the air remained still once again, Greg finally chose to leave the hallway and to see what had caused the abrupt noise that he had heard. Cautiously opening the door, he took quiet steps as he left the bathroom. The first room that he had decided to check was the one where he was held, and as he turned the corner to enter to the room, Greg instantly knew what had caused the abrupt noise.

When he had kicked the chair off to the side so that he could scoot over and get the scissors that were on the floor by the door, the chair had landed in an awkward position. It was clear that the position that it had landed in wasn't enough to support the chair and eventually, gravity had taken over and the chair was sent plummeting into its desired position which had caused the abrupt noise and his terrifying scare.

Figuring out what had caused the noise and also coming to the conclusion that he was thankfully still in the house alone, Greg left the room and made his way back down the hallway. As he passed the bathroom, he had immediately entered the living room which Greg had also realized was attached to the kitchen and also led to the front door.

Seeing the front door insight, Greg instantly wanted to charge for it, but the other part of him told him that he needed to call Nick. Instantly beginning to search the living room for a phone, Greg realized that there was a vulgar smell of cheap beer and smoke that permeated the air. Putting aside the intoxicating smell, Greg continued to search for the phone, checking under the couch, table, and chairs, but as he began to search the couch cushions, he found something else, and he didn't entirely know if it was better or worse then a phone. Picking it up, he held a 9mm glock 17 in his hand and as he checked to see if it was loaded, he saw that there was a full round.

As he held the powerful weapon in his hand, Greg began to question whether or not he should carry the device with the testy trigger. Although being a person who has never been a big fan guns, he did see the protection that it would offer, especially now being in a position where he need all the protection that he could get, but he was considering if he put in the situation to use it, if adrenaline would dominate the moment and lead him to do something careless. There was only one moment in his life where he had used his gun in the field, but unfortunately it was only during a gun training course and they were only using paintball guns. Realizing though that he didn't entirely have the opportunity to really debate whether or not he should carry the gun, he took a firm grasp of the gun and continued to search for a phone.

Leaving the living room area, he then made his way over to the kitchen and continued his search over there. It was instantly though when his eye had spotted the cordless phone that was sitting right next to the fridge on its rechargeable receiver. For once, luck had been on his side.

With excitement surging through his pulse, Greg's hands began to get shaky as adrenaline pumped through his veins. As he started to dial Nick's number, with his mind being in such a rush, he had messed up his number twice. When he finally got the number punched in correctly, he impatiently waited for Nick to answer his phone.

After Nick and Catherine had given Grissom a call, with little for them to do except for them to wait for his and Sara's arrival, the two of them decided to indulge themselves in a couple of hours of much needed sleep. When Grissom and Sara had finally arrived in Vegas at 7:00 AM the next morning, Catherine decided that she would go and pick them up so that Nick could stay at the lab just in case anything happened. With being stuck in the lab with nothing to currently do, Nick had continued to bask in his restful slumber.

It was at 7:50 in the morning when Nick had gotten a phone call that had awakened him. At first he was irritated to see that someone was calling him so early in the morning and woke him up from his sleep, but after he checked the number and saw it was unknown, a drowsy seriousness swept over him. Flipping open his phone, he cleared his throat and introduced himself to the presence on the other end. "This is Stokes," he groggily said, but when he heard the voice on the other line, it had fully woken him.

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Alright, so my question is… what do you guy think is going to happen next? I mean come on… I'm writing this story… so there is bound to be a twist! Any idea what that twist is going to be? Please please please share your thoughtful thoughts!

And now off to expressing my utmost appreciation and gratitude for my readers who have expressed that appreciation and gratitude :D!

For alerting TPMG, thank you to IHaveADemonFoxInsideMe.

For adding TPMG to their favorites list, thank you to Bumble Bee Extreme Step Team.

And for my reviewers, thank you to LadySally, StarlitWave10, VisionX23, CSI001, Abby, AngstWhore69 (2x), crimescenelover, ilovemiax, and Tracy (2x). As always, I love all the reviews and thank you guys all so much for taking the time to write one.

So, I've got some good news for your guys today on this fine final day of the year 2011. Well seeming that tomorrow is going to be a year since I've posted my story (I don't necessarily know if that's a good or bad thing ha ha), I will be posting chapter 25 tomorrow, which is the continuation of Greg's escape. It's kinda a little bit of an anniversary thing and it's kinda like my gift to you and also an apology for keeping you guys waiting once again. But hey, don't forget to review this chapter okay :D! I wanna reach 200 before I post chapter 25 :D!

So Adios to you guys for tonight, and Happy New Years Eve to everyone :D!


	25. You're Gonna Be Fine Greg, I Promise

Oh guy's… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I've felt so guilty these past few days cause I know I promised you all chapter 25 on New Years Day but with what I had done, I wasn't satisfied with posting it. So I'm really sorry to of kept you all waiting, but I know that I'll be able to make it up to you with the suspense in this chapter… I have to say… it's pretty amazing :D! Well you know, not to brag or anything ha ha ;)!

Oh and before I forget… 200 REVIEWS! WOO HOO! Thank you guys so much like this really means a lot to me.

So be sure to leave a review as it is the greatest part of any balanced breakfast! HA HA HA, I'm not sure that makes any sense but it made me laugh! Anyways, here is Chapter 25!

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**Chapter 25: "You're Gonna Be Fine Greg, I Promise"**

"NICK! NICK ITS GREG! DON'T HANG UP ITS GREG!" was the first thing that Greg shouted into the phone once he heard the familiar voice.

Instantly hearing the shouting had fully awakened Nick from his sleep, but even if that hadn't done the trick, hearing the voice on the other line would have on its own. "Greg! Greg, are you okay? What's going on man?" he immediately asked.

"Nick listen, I'm at this new house alone and I got out of the chair that I was tied to so I decided to call you and I have no idea what to do and I fuckin need help," Greg began to simultaneously blurt out before he was cut off by Nick.

"Greg, slow down alright!" Nick firmly said. "You're speaking too fast; I can't understand what you're saying."

Greg stood there for a second with this incredulous look on his face surprised that Nick couldn't comprehend a damn thing that he was saying. Rephrasing and summing up the focal point of what he had just said, Greg shouted back at Nick, "I need help!"

"Are you okay?" he automatically asked out of concern once he heard Greg though it didn't exactly register with himself what he just asked.

Hearing Nick ask this, frustration quickly began to overcome Greg as he figured that this was the stupidest question that Nick could have asked. "NO I'M NOT OKAY!" Greg bluntly shouted back. "Nick listen I don't know what the hell to do and I don't know when Calvin's going to be back!"

"Wait," Nick cut off once again. "You're still in the house? Greg you need to get out of that house right now!" Nick sternly ordered.

"And go where!" Greg snapped back in frustration. "I don't know where the hell I'm at and I can't take this stupid house phone with me; the call will drop after 500 feet!"

"Greg I'm telling you, you need to get out of that house right now!" Nick firmly ordered again hoping to get this concept through into Greg's panicked mind. "You have a chance to escape and you need to take it! You said it your self, you don't know when Calvin's going to be back, but you sure as hell don't want to be there when he does."

"Nick I just want you to trace the call and come find me," Greg then desperately yet pathetically begged into the phone. "I don't know what to do," he continued to hopelessly admit.

It was now that Nick was finally able to hear the fear in Greg's voice. "Greg I know you're confused right now and I know you just want this to be over and it almost is I swear. But you need to help your self too okay. I really need you to leave that house right now I want you to go to a neighbor's house or a gas station, just somewhere where you can safely hide. I want you to leave this phone on though and I'm going to trace this call just so we can have an idea on your location and when you can safely call us, I want you to and them we'll come and get you," Nick calmly yet sternly ordered with confidence.

"What if I can't find a place to go to?" Greg doubtfully questioned.

"Greg hide under the house if you fuckin need to I just really need you to get out of that house," Nick desperately pleaded. "Do you really want Calvin to find you right now? Think about it; you've almost obtained freedom, do you really want Calvin to take that from you again?" he then added so to further convince Greg.

At this moment, his heart rate was beating so fast that he could feel it throughout his whole body. Adrenaline kicking in once again, Greg turned his attention toward the front door and as his eyes locked with the door handle, it didn't take much convincing beyond that point for him to leave. "Alright, I'm leaving,"

"Good," Nick gratefully encouraged. "Call the lab as soon as you can alright. You're going to be fine Greg."

The encouragement in Nick's voice was uplifting and hopeful and for the first time since his abduction, Greg felt safe. Setting the phone down on the kitchen counter, he then swiftly made his way toward the front door and immediately unlocked it. As his hand clutched the door knob though, it was then that movement on the other side of the door had caught his eye. It didn't take long to register what exactly he was looking at and in that very instant, hope drastically hit rock bottom. Greg tried as he may to disbelieve what he was seeing. His eyes followed in dreadful fear and agony as a black Crown Victorian pulled into the driveway and simultaneously, he could feel his hollow heart beat increase. Locking the door and turning on his heel, he rushed back over to the kitchen counter and his extended forward to grab the phone.

"NICK THEY'RE BACK! THEY'RE FUCKIN BACK I CAN'T LEAVE!" Greg shouted into the phone; his voice on the verge of tears.

"WHAT?" Nick shouted back in disbelief. "You're sure?"

"Why the hell wouldn't I be sure about this Nick?" Greg snapped back at him once again hearing another stupid question. "What do I do?" he desperately asked, his voice quivering with fear.

Immediately Nick became filled with panic too. With Greg having this chance to escape and seeing it taken away from him so easily, not only was it frustrating but utterly terrifying. Nick desperately wanted to help his friend, but at this moment, there wasn't anything that he could do. He tried to offer what he could though, even though it was a lot at all. "Greg you need to hide your self; make sure that they won't be able to find you."

Even though his adrenaline had already kicked in, at this moment, it had reached new heights, especially after he heard the sound of three car doors shutting. "Alright," Greg said into the phone as he quickly began to scope out for a place to hide. He ran down the hall way to the very end and entered the room that he though was a bedroom. As he opened the door, he found out that he was right but he didn't care about that. As he shut the door behind him, he could see to his left that there were two doors which he immediately walked over to. The first door had led into a bathroom and the second one led into a walk in closet. Seeing that in the corner there were large jackets hanging up, he figured that if he hid behind them, they would cover him up and hide him nicely for the time being.

Choosing the closet, he made his way into it and shut the door behind him and comfortably buried himself into the corner behind the coats. Feeling some what safe for the moment, he then put the phone to his ear and began to whisper into it. "Hey Nick, I found a coat closet to hide in and I also found a gun earlier so I'll be able to defend my self. Are you tracing the call right now?"

Nick was happy to hear that Greg was able to find a place to hide but not only that, he found a way to protect himself. "That's really great Greg," Nick quickly applauded but then returned his attention back to Greg's question. "Answering your question though, Archie is running the trace now and he's almost got a hit."

A heavy sigh of relief attacked Greg's breath once he heard this. He figured that if Nick found where he was and if he remained hidden until he got here then in no time, this could all be over for him. "Thank you," Greg then gratefully added.

Having talked to Greg only a few hours ago and realizing that hope had been completely obliterated from Greg's conscience, Nick wasn't shy to the fact that this was the first time that he had heard hope in Greg's voice. "I told you we were going to find you Greg. Just make sure you keep quiet alright so Calvin doesn't find you. Once Archie locates a trace, we're gonna get a helicopter down there right away and we'll all come get you okay."

"Okay," Greg silently said with a relaxed voice, but that sense of fear hadn't left him though. In fact, once he heard that front door open, his fear had hitched. He knew that as long as he stayed quiet and invisible that he could be fine, but just because he could remain invisible didn't mean that he would.

David was the first person to enter the house, seeming that it was his home and walking in, he went over to the kitchen a sat down his bag of groceries and supplies on the counter. As he set down the bags though, he noticed something that was very peculiar. "Hey Calvin," David said.

Following behind David into the kitchen, Calvin was putting away the case of beer that he bought, but hearing the unsteady tone in David's voice, once he set down the beer, he shut the fridge door and looked over at him. "What," he bluntly said.

"You need to look at this," he simply stated and seeing Calvin make his way over to stand by him, he then pointed at the mystery stain on his kitchen counter. "What's that?" he simply questioned.

The stain was the color of a light crimson red and it looked as if it had just been smeared. "I think that's blood," Calvin quizzically suggested.

While David and Calvin were looking at the blood on the counter, Mark was making his way toward the bathroom, but as he approached the room, he noticed that the light was on and once he entered the room, he saw the soaking wet sink, a strip of duct tape on the floor, and small amount of blood. Instantly he knew of the only possibility where this could have come from. Leaving the bathroom, he turned to his right and made his way to the room that their captive was kept, but once he saw the missing door, he knew exactly what had happened.

"Calvin," Mark frantically called. "What the fuck happened to the door?"

As soon as Calvin heard this, he turned around and ran toward his captive's room. Carelessly shoving Mark out of the way, he ran to the room and stopped at the door frame and once he saw the broken chair on the floor with his captive no longer in it, Calvin became utterly enraged. "That fuckin prick got away!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he threw a punch against one of the walls.

Still silently remaining hidden in the closet, Greg was struggling to remain quiet at this moment. Clearly hearing Calvin's enraged outburst, Greg's accursed conscience kept contemplating if Calvin would find him and if he did, what exactly he would do to him. "Nick… I'm scared," Greg pathetically admitted with a quivering voice.

Hearing Greg's confession, it really had presented to Nick his level of fear he was battling. "Greg, I know you are, but you're doing a great job. You just need to tell yourself that Calvin isn't going to find you and that we'll be on our way in just a minute or two. You're going to be fine Greg, I promise," Nick confidently assured.

The hope that Nick held in this situation, Greg no where near felt as confident. Fear and doubt were consuming his mind and he constantly was questioning whether or not Calvin would find him. What would he do if someone found him? Yes he was holding a gun in his hand but would he really use it if he had to? His mind was playing ruthless tricks on him and he almost couldn't take the mental torment, especially after hearing another one of Calvin's outbursts.

"Fuck," Calvin screamed at the top of his voice. "God Dammit, he got away! What the fuck do we do now?" he shouted as he turned to Mark as if he could fix the problem for him. When Mark had just given him an absent, blank stare though, frustration overcame Calvin and he stormed off into the living room. Needing a way to release his fury, he picked up the first thing that his eye caught and as he hand grasped one of the empty beer bottles from last night, without a second though, he threw it against the wall. The force behind his throw sent shards of glass flying everywhere and after seeing the minor explosion, Calvin finally took a seat on the couch and as he did, his head immediately dropped into his hands as frustration and failure quickly overtook his conscience.

Mark could easily sense Calvin's distraught nature and so he walked over to him and sat on the couch as well. Being Calvin's closest friend, he was there for him when he went through everything with Aaron's trial and death five years ago. He also understood when Calvin had also presented his need to commit his vengeful plot to kidnap a CSI in order to avenge his brother's death. Mark knew of all the time and effort that Calvin had put into this plan and not only that, he put his heart into it. At this moment, Mark knew that Calvin felt as if he had failed, as if there was nothing that he could do to fix what he had created. Everything he had worked for was over, and there was nothing that Calvin could do about it.

Seeing Mark sitting over with Calvin trying his best to comfort him, David decided to leave the two of them to them selves so he headed down the hall toward his bedroom. As he approached the door though, reaching for the handle, he saw something unexpected yet coincidentally familiar. There was a crimson smudge surrounding the door knob and David had a hunch growing that he knew where it had come from. Without mentioning anything to Calvin or Mark, he decided to check out his bedroom.

Sitting in silence for a bit, the comfort of his hiding place kept him relaxed, but once he heard a door open that sounded dangerously close, both Greg's heart rate and breathing began to increase. The footsteps that he could hear outside of the closet sounded as if they were getting closer to him, but with the sound on another door opening, Greg had figured that it was one of his kidnappers entering the bathroom. There was an eerie echo that had reached his own ear as he felt each step that his kidnapper took as the heel clicked against the tiled floor. It was another factor that had contributed to Greg's increase of breathing and as he heard the footsteps stop, he knew he needed to silence himself as well.

Placing a hand over his mouth to cover his breath, he had quickly removed his hand when he felt a painful sting around his lips. Greg hadn't noticed that his lips had been bleeding and it took him a minute to realize that it was probably from when he had ripped the tape from his lips just a few minutes ago. As Greg shined the faint green light from the phone over his hand though, he then saw that there was actually a decent amount of blood on his hand. After seeing this, the first thought that entered his mind was that he hoped he didn't leave any blood around the house.

The stinging from his lips though still didn't stop him from making sure he remained quiet. Which ever one of his kidnappers it was, they were still in the bathroom, and at this moment, there was only a wall that had separated the two of them. Greg kept strictly calm and silent and made sure that there wasn't going to be anything that was going to get the attention of the presence on the other side of this wall. But then in a matter of second, four little words ruined it all.

"We got a trace," Nick yelled in excitement, though he was oblivious to the fact that silence was the key to Greg's survival at this point, and had he known it, he had just exposed his secret and secure hiding place.

As David stood silently in the bathroom, listening to the silent air, it was the most obvious sound in the world when he had heard static yelling coming from the next room; the closet. Leaving the bathroom, David turned to his left to face the door that led to the closet and as he began to reach for the handle, he stopped and a huge grin became plastered on his face. Covering the door knob yet again he saw the crimson smudges of blood, and he knew exactly who it belonged to, and he knew exactly who was on the other side of this door. Instantly, David was filled with indescribable excitement once he began to think about his terrified captive pathetically hiding in his closet.

On the other side of the door, the fear that David was imagining was in fact a reality to Greg. Sitting in the closet, knowing that the door was going to fly open any second, he was shaken with adrenaline and petrified out of his mind. He dreaded the anticipation of seeing his captor that now had him trapped again, and also knowing that there would be a hefty consequence for trying to escape. Greg was stuck again, but then again, the gun in his hands was starting to call to him. As he looked at the black gun under the soft green glow from the house phone light, he realized that this was his last resort, and that it needed to be used if he was going to have a chance to save him self.

Still staring at the gun, his attention was then broken as he heard the sound of a hand firmly grasping a door knob. With his heart beating faster then ever, Greg took a firm grasp of the gun, placed his fingers on the trigger and clicked off the safety. Finally, standing up out of the corner and in plain sight, he stood tall and stretched out his arm, holding the gun straight in front of him. There was a courage he presented in his stance, but he knew he was showing off more bravado then what he felt. His muscles were shaking, his palms started to get sweaty, and he felt like he was about to throw up.

The weakness that was building up, Greg knew it was his conscience already announcing his guilt in his actions that he was about to commit. The guilt in his conscience was screaming _"How can you do this, how can you be willing to resort yourself to killing someone?" _But at this moment, it was a desperate fight for his life over death, and with desperate actions come desperate measures. In his mind, in defense against the guilt, his conscience retorted _"But why wouldn't you kill someone who is trying to kill you? And if it means that you get to save your life, then you've killed the person who tried to take away your life. You've gotten this far and your almost at a point of freedom, so why not take it?" _

Firmly clutching the door knob, David finally started to turn it, and in one quick movement flung open the door. The image of Calvin's scared and timid captive quivering on the floor below him was the sight that he had hoped for, but what he got in return was nothing that he had expected.

The door swung open in an instantaneous flash, and he saw the black silhouette of the figure standing before him, and blocking his exit and only means of escape. With the gun in his hand, and guilt in his conscience blocked, his first intention was to shoot, and that is exactly what Greg did regardless of which one of his captors was standing in the door way. With one shot after another, adrenaline and fear forcing his fingers to squeeze the trigger, he fired all six rounds of bullets in the loaded gun.

An attack without a second thought imbedded its self into David's chest. Fiery pain exploded throughout his chest as all six bullets pierced vital arteries and shredded his muscles and skin. As each bullet hit him, as a reflex, it threw his body back, and he ended up landing on his bed. And after he hit the soft mattress, with blood oozing through his open wounds, he instantly bled out, the mattress soaking up all the blood, and he drew his final breath. In seconds, David Carson was dead.

With his violent actions and the graphic display that took place in front of him, Greg started to panic again. He stared at the dead corpse that was bleeding out on the bed before him, and realizing that this was now the second man he had killed, it would only further haunt his conscience. But he pulled him self back into the present, instead of dwelling on the massacre that he just preformed against this poor man that he despised, he dropped the now useless gun and ran out of the closet. Scrambling, not knowing what to do, his gaze became fixed upon the window, and in an act of improvising, he made a mad dash for it and started to open it, knowing that this could very well be his only escape.

With Cal loathing in the misfortune of his captive escaping, and Mark sitting next to him, trying to offer some means of assurance, they were both rightfully distracted by the demanding sound of six continuous gun shots. Hearing that they had come from David's bedroom, they both stood up and ran toward his room wanting to know the means of the sudden use for a gun.

"Dave, what the hell happened," Mark started to shout before he entered the room, but once he saw his room, a scream of anger and agony resounded the room. "Oh my God, DAVID!" screamed Mark in agonizing hysterics as he ran over and saw him lying on the bed in his lifeless and bleeding form.

When Calvin entered the room though, his glance immediately caught the sight of his captive, who he thought got away, was about half way out the window and was just a push off the ledge away from actually escaping. Without a second's worth of hesitance, Calvin bolted over to Greg and with desperate, grabby hands, he wrapped his fingers tightly around Greg's the roots of his hair and viciously yanked him back.

The moment that his eyes had locked with the window, it was like tunnel vision had attacked his eye sight. There was nothing else around him except for that window; his escape. It had unfortunately taken him a moment to shuffle open the stiff window open, but the second that he realized that he could fit between the frame he pulled himself up and got his legs out of the window. It was at this moment that he was about to push himself off the ledge and continue his escape on foot across the unknown terrain of the desert, but it was also at this moment that he felt a strong hand grab onto the roots of his short hair and forcibly pull back. Instantly, Greg fell into the momentum and easily lost his balance, and as he fell backwards onto the floor, he fell right into the view of his furious kidnapper towering over him.

The consequences that Greg had expected earlier had now presented them selves, and before he could blink, he felt the forceful and excruciating pain of a workman's boot harshly kicking him in the side of his face. The piercing pain made an anguished cry escape his vocal cords. He rolled onto his side and held his throbbing and bruising face in his hand, but as he did so, another kick was brought upon his body, and this time near his lower back, just missing his kidneys. The unbearable torment had returned and the pain wasn't shy to make it's self presentable. Tears had started to form in his eyes again and his body began to shake with vicious tremors. Though had he known it, Calvin was now the least of his worries.

Mark was still next to David and holding the bleeding corpse against his body, careless to the fact that it was staining his clothes. The denial in his mind against loosing his best friend, he was thinking that if he held on tight enough, David would come back. With tears streaming down his face, holding the bloody and limp figure, reality was starting to set into his conscience. Reality now returning, the current grief that he was dwelling in was now being replaced with rage. His sad gaze was replaced with fury, and a demonic glare was fixed on the petrified man that was lying on the floor.

Mark dropped David's limp body back onto the blood soaked bed and stormed over to Greg. With his sanity over taken, he unexpectedly shoved Calvin out of the way and brought in another forceful kick against Greg's broken body, kicking him with an even stronger force then Calvin ever dared to inflict. His first kick landed on his back as well, just this time, he hit his kidneys, which forced an excruciating scream to escape Greg's throat. Mark then stepped over Greg and with a kick with the same force, he kicked him in his stomach and then again in his chest.

When Mark had kicked him in the stomach and chest, it was an agony that had taken away his breath. The force behind the vindictive blow not only took his breath from him but it had also distorted his chest in a way where Greg could only assume that a rib had finally broken. There was also the flavor of thick, metallic blood forming in his mouth but at this moment, he couldn't depict whether it was just a bloody lip or worse internal bleeding. Regardless of what caused the blood, Greg knew that he was hurt and badly. His mind felt heavy and groggy and his body felt numb. All he felt he could do was lay there and pray that the beatings would stop, but it didn't take long for Greg to conclude that his prayer went unheard. When he felt his beaten body being rolled onto his back, Greg knew that the worst was about to come.

Once he rolled Greg onto his back, the fear in his eyes longingly called to Mark, and he longed to show no mercy. Mark straddled his weight on Greg's broken chest to further constrict his already pained and limited breathing and in a swift motion he grabbed his gun from his waistband. As his hand took a firm clasp of his Colt 45, he saw Greg's eyes glisten with terror which was exactly what he wanted to see. Taking his left hand, he clasped it around Greg's neck and deftly cut off Greg's air and when he tried to take in that desperately deprived gasp, it was then that Mark shoved the barrel of the revolver into Greg's mouth and released the safety. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you _fuckin _brains out right here to stupid fuck!" Mark screamed at Greg, mere inches from his face and his sense of humanity completely obliterated from his being.

Calvin was in a state of utter shock at the moment, first with Mark shoving him out of the way, but now, this was something that was completely different and unexpected, and Calvin simply didn't know how to respond to it. It was clear that sanity had completely abandoned Mark and he was now trapped in a dark place of seethe and rage. There wasn't the slightest part of him that doubted if Mark was going to pull that trigger, and that was something that he wasn't going to let happen. "Mark, take the gun out of his mouth now!" Calvin cautiously screamed at him.

"Why should I? This fuckin piece of shit doesn't deserve to live!" Mark yelled back in loathing hate. It was then that his finger began to waiver on the trigger, feeling that he was just mere seconds from pulling it.

Seeing this very reaction out of Mark, Calvin began to get worried, fearing that Mark was really going to kill Greg. "MARK! I SAID DROP THE FUCKIN GUN!" Calvin forcefully ordered him with a stern and intimidating glare as he now pulled out his own gun and fixed it upon Mark.

As soon as Mark saw this, he looked up at Calvin with painful eyes that pleaded for sympathy but seeing the stern unchanging glare in Calvin's eyes, he knew that this wasn't the way that he was going to be able to get vengeance against Greg. Mark then regretfully removed the gun from Greg's mouth, but he didn't drop it. Still holding a firm grip on the gun, he started to pistol whip Greg in the face, and immediately, once he started to do this, he didn't get more then three hits in before Calvin forcibly ripped his body off of Greg.

"CALVIN LET GO OF ME GOD DAMMIT!" Mark shouted back in anger as he tried to wriggle loose of his firm grasp.

"NO! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!" Calvin screamed back once again in fury.

Viciously struggling against Calvin, Mark finally broke free of his hold and once again launched himself back on Greg. Instantly, Greg tried to escape from him and his grasp with his nails digging into the floor boards, but it was a futile effort. As Mark grabbed his ankle, he yanked his body back toward him and straddled Greg's body once again. With tears now streaming from his cheeks, he threw a rage induced punch to the side of Greg's face, followed by another, followed by another. It was then that he screamed back at Calvin, "I DON'T FUCKIN CARE IF I KILL HIM!" With his glare fixed firmly on Greg's eyes again, he started to scream at him, mere inches from his face, "YOU FUCKIN BASTARD YOU SHOT DAVID! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!"

With Mark still not getting off of Greg, Calvin finally resorted to grabbing the collar on Mark's shirt and he jerked back hard, throwing his body back to the floor. He then started to try and drag Mark away from Greg, but in a quick action, Mark thrust his foot forward and kicked Greg right in the balls.

Greg just lied on the floor numb from all the pain that he had just experienced in the matter of minutes, but the pain in his body disappeared for a short while as he felt the searing anguish from a strong foot kicking him square in the balls. His body doubled over, the breath was stolen from him again, and he felt a fresh wave of tears forming in his eyes.

Finally having Mark away from Greg, he was now trying to calm him down, but deep inside, he knew that there wasn't much that he could do. Knowing this despair that Mark was now suffering through, knowing the feeling of the tragic loss of a brother, it was a feeling that was indescribable. "Mark, I know you're angry but you can't kill him, not yet."

"I don't fuckin care about this anymore! That fuckin piece of shit just killed David, and I swear to God, I'm gonna fuckin kill him now!" Mark threatened in his vengeful agony.

As Calvin was listening to Mark go on about his means to kill Greg, he started to hear something. "Mark, be quiet for a second," he asked as he listened to the seemingly silent room. "Do you hear that," he then questioned hearing what he thought sounded like static again.

"It's just the fuckin pussy boy crying again," Mark mocked with hatred in his voice.

"No it's not that, just shut the fuck up Mark," Calvin quickly snapped back quickly returning the room back to its silence. After waiting for a few more seconds, both he and Mark had heard the static, and so did Greg.

Greg knew what the static noise was that Calvin was referring to, and he then realized that the phone was still on and that Nick was still on the other line, which meant that he had just heard everything that had just happened. He hated thinking about what Nick must have been feeling while listening to everything, not knowing what was really happening, but what Nick was thinking right now was the least of his worries. Calvin had found the phone, and if he was the smart man that he has proved to be, then he would probably be able to put two and two together and he would realize that Nick was on the phone and that he was on long enough for him to run a trace and find out where he was at. The consequences for trying to escape were painful enough, so what would happen to him if Calvin realized that Nick knew where he was at?

Calvin had heard the static coming over from the closet, and so he walked over there to find the source of the strange noise. Once he walked into the dark room, he saw a green glow on the floor and as he picked it up, he saw that it was the house phone from the kitchen. Then while holding the phone, a familiar voice started to speak. "Greg. Are you there? Is everything okay man? Greg what happened?" Calvin heard Nick asking in a scared confusion.

Realizing that Greg had called Nick, it sent both anger and absolute fear coursing through him. He silently pressed the end button, and doing so, he then saw two things flashing on the screen. One of them was a phone number, a number he had recognized as Nick's cell phone number, and then he saw the time flashing, which told him how long Greg had the phone on for; the flashing numbers read 10:27. Connecting the two pieces of information together, he concluded that Greg had called Nick and doing so, he probably had Nick run a trace on the house, seeming that he would have had plenty of time to do so.

Greg was still lying on the floor and was simply praying that Calvin didn't realize that Nick was on the phone. Though as he heard footsteps starting to approach him, the harsh tremors that shook his body started to return, and he was only dreading what Calvin would now do to him.

As Calvin approached Greg, he noticed that his presence had sent a terror through him, and it only further stirred the assumption in his mind of _I know what you're hiding? _He finally stopped and stood over Greg, scrutinizing him with intimidating eyes. "So, you were talking to Nicky huh?" he asked.

As Calvin asked this, Greg could hear in his voice that he was playing an innocent oblivion, but as he watched him mess with the phone in his hands and heard the incentive in his voice, Greg knew that he already knew the answer. So choosing not to answer Cal, he remained silent.

"I see, your silence says it all," Calvin replied, but then proceeded with another question. "And did you have Nick run a trace on the house?"

Calvin's smarts once again shined through unfortunately and he figured out what the phone call to Nick was basically meant for. This was the question that Greg dreaded and he knew that he couldn't lie to Cal with this one, but he didn't want to admit the truth either. His mind was once again clouded with thoughts of what Calvin might do to him, for he not only tried to escape, but Nick now knows where he is at, and a grim fear was setting into his mind thinking about what the punishment for his actions would be this time. At this moment, Greg was absolutely petrified, and continued to remain silent.

With his silence continuing, Calvin could only smile. He could tell that this was exactly what Greg didn't want to have him find out, and with doing so, he could feel the fear in his captive. "I'll take that as a yes. So Greg, why were you trying to escape?" Cal began to mock again.

Greg heard the mock in his voice again and as before he continued to remain silent. His fear written eyes had held their glance with Calvin's for a while, but as Calvin started to reach behind his back for something, his concentration was broken. He intensively watched Calvin, looking to see what he was reaching for, and he soon realized what it was as soon as his eyes meet the slick black metal in his hands.

Seeing the gun, an automatic and desperate plea began to try to reason with this madman's sympathy. "No Calvin, please don't shoot me please! I'm sorry, please, please don't shoot me!"

Listening to Greg's pathetic pleading brought about smug pride in Calvin. This was something that he enjoyed hearing, but regardless of hearing the pleas, the words meant nothing to him, and Greg's pleas went unheeded. With his finger hovering over the trigger, it began to call to him, and without a second thought, Calvin fired the gun.

* * *

OH GOD I LOVE LEAVING CLIFFHANGERS! I know you guys can't stand it but that's what makes it so fun MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh god, I feel so deliciously evil right now!

So my question for you guy's is… What do you think happened when Calvin fired the gun?

And to my thanks for my readers:

For favoriting The Puppet Master's Game, thank you dolxxx.

For reviewing, thank you to CJaMes12, ilovemiax, VisionX23, RockyWench, CSI001, StarlitWave10, dolxxx, and Erm. Thanks a million you guys and it's still great to see such positive feedback from you guys after a whole year. I'm glad to see that I haven't lost your interest yet as well :D!

CJaMes12: I loved your prediction, it was a really good one and it completely seemed like something I would write… but alas, I did not. I hope you enjoyed the actual result though.

CSI001: Thanks for helping me reach 200 reviews :D! It really did mean a lot!

StarlitWave10: Ummm… I think your reading a bit much into it. Just because he has tape over his mouth doesn't mean that he can't make any noise, it's just that he can't coherently speak. When Greg was yelling and laughing, he still did it, just with tape over his mouth ha ha. Oh and I was worried if people would think I was weird for going into such detail with that scene, but I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it :D!

dolxxx: Wow… I'm the first person that you've ever reviewed a story for… I guess that is some kind of honor then ha ha. Thank you so much and I'm really happy to see that you are enjoying my story so much. Thanks for the review and I hope to hear from you again :D!

So major thanks to all of my readers especially the ones who have favorited my story, alerted my story, and not only that, but for all the reviews. A lot of people told me that I shouldn't post my story on this website before I did last year, but after seeing the results from all my readers, I couldn't be happier that I did. Thank you for all the support that you guys have given me and I really hope that you'll follow this story till the very end :D!


	26. Inevitable Realities

Any author's notes… ummmmmmmm… NOPE! Can't think of any except be sure to enjoy chapter 26 as by doing so, you will be donating one cyber-hug to Greg Sanders! And if you review, he'll magically give you a cyber-hug back :D! HOW CAN YOU RESIST! XD!

Oh wait, one small note, I changed one small detail in chapter 25 and that is that Greg shot off six bullets instead of eight. Thanks to a suggestion made by a fellow reader, I decided to change this fact as I think it does sound a bit more realistic. So yeah, just a FYI :D! Other then that, enjoy :D!

* * *

**Chapter 26: Inevitable Realities**

Countless times had a gun been pointed at him since the beginning of his abduction, but it was comical to think that it was a feeling he would ever get use to. The sheer terror that a gun brought even just from its mentioning was enough to petrify a man to his core, yet there was absolutely no comparison to the feeling of having one directly pointed at you right between the eyes. Once again, the graphic thought of his brains being blown away to bits, it was terrifying, but now, it was unfortunately becoming intriguing. As Greg's eyes stared down the barrel of the gun, he painfully anticipated the moment when his life would cease to exist. The contemplation of death was grim, but the reality of freedom was euphoric.

Pleading to Calvin to spare his life, Greg didn't even know why he bothered. It wasn't like Calvin was going to begin to show him mercy now, especially after all he just did; trying to escape, running a successful trace on the house, and killing David, who was apparently Mark's brother. Thinking about that, it was surprising to Greg when Mark didn't blow his brains out, but it was also disappointing in a manner. In the past, Greg had wished for death to consume him so that he could escape this nightmare, but at this moment, death seemed like the only alternative.

Seeing the end of this whole ordeal slip from his fingers, it practically dawned on him that this was never going to be over for him. Yes Nick knew now where he was, but Greg knew that he wouldn't find him, at least not here, and probably not alive. Nick was the only person that he had to count on and his salvation was taken from him. At this moment, Greg knew that he would end his life in Calvin's clutches. It was already a fate that was unbearable enough as it was; now, he could only wait for the end. If he was going to die by the hands of Calvin, then he didn't see the point in living anymore.

Staring down the barrel of the gun, his horror stricken eyes had changed into hollow orbs that begged for Calvin to express a moment of sympathy for him. The bullet lodged inside of the gun was his one-way ticket to freedom and if the cost of it was death, then it was a bargain he was willing to make. Waiting for that bullet to resonate through the room, he could feel his stomach doing summersaults and his heart was shriveling up. Painfully holding his breath, he waited for that gun shot, and as it dimly echoed throughout the room, his breath was stolen from him.

* * *

The gun shots came out of no where, but they echoed throughout the phone Nick was fearfully clutching on to. There wasn't a warning from Greg that announced if he was going to use the gun or not, so Nick could only hope that it was Greg that had shot the six rounds. After that, there was just silence but it didn't take long before it was broken. There was then a lot of shouting before he heard bone-rattling exclaims of pain which Nick unfortunately knew belonged to Greg. Beyond that though, Nick almost wished that he didn't hear anything else; clearly hearing the threats to kill his best friend didn't really set well with his conscience. It then got quiet after that, before he heard footsteps. There was then a brief scuffle before he could hear breathing.

"Greg," Nick first questioned, but the silence continued. "Are you there?" he then asked, questioning the silence. When there was still no answer, Nick grew painfully worried. "Is everything okay man? Greg what happened?" he desperately questioned as tears began to form in his ducts already fearing the worst. This time though, he simply heard the dial tone, and to Nick it was worst then the silence.

"Nick," Archie hesitantly asked, seeing the distressed glazed over look in his eyes.

"Give me the address," was all that Nick said.

Looking at the doorway first, Archie then turned his attention to his computer and in one click of a button Greg's current location was printed out. He then handed the paper to Nick and instantly, he got up from his chair and went to leave but was immediately stopped by the familiar presences standing in the doorway.

"What happened," Catherine asked seeing an extremely distraught Nick standing before her.

Nick was frozen for a second. With his rampage of emotions, the abrupt question, and standing before his former boss, it all rattled his mind. Nick didn't know where to begin for a second, but he knew where he needed to be. Ignoring Catherine, Grissom, and Sara as if they weren't even there, he worked his way past them and swiftly made his way to the elevator.

It was if they were all invisible, but Catherine knew that Nick wouldn't be like that if it wasn't serious. Taking off after him, she met him at the elevator with Sara and Grissom following behind her. "Nick," she snapped, making sure she had his attention. "What the hell's going on?"

With everything that had transpired over that phone call, Nick knew there was no way that he could briefly summarize it, but he also didn't want to worry Catherine. "I got a trace on Greg," Nick simply explained.

Instantly hearing this, Catherine's eyes flashed with utter joy. "You're serious? Nick that's great! How'd you find him?" she anxiously asked.

"He called me," Nick once again blandly explained.

"How'd Greg get a phone? Did Calvin use an untraceable one?"

"Calvin wasn't home and Greg escaped. He called using a house phone."

This was the first response that puzzled Catherine as it offered a lot of questions. "Well is Greg still in the house or did he leave, I mean what if Calvin comes back?" she reasoned.

It was now that Nick found it hard to answer Catherine. This was the first stitch of good news that they had received since Greg's abduction and as easily as it had filled her with hope it would just as easily crush her soul. Nick remained silent as he tried to piece together the best response, but before he could answer, someone else already had.

"Calvin found Greg… didn't he?" Grissom rightfully questioned upon seeing Nick's reaction. Nick was always too gentle at heart to deliver news of such despair, which led Grissom to this assumption.

Catherine's eyes shot over in Grissom's direction in disbelief, but when her glance turned to Nick and once she saw the expression on his face, she instantly knew that Grissom was right. "Please tell me he didn't," Catherine desperately begged.

It was then that the elevator had stopped on their floor and as Nick saw his out, he quickly boarded the elevator and immediately pushed the button to close the door. The doors immediately went to close, but before they shut, a hand blocked the elevator. "There is no way you made us fly over here all the way from Paris just to find Greg on your own," Sara sternly retorted as she boarded the elevator, followed by Catherine and Grissom.

"What happened Nick?" Grissom asked with encouragement.

Being trapped in the elevator, there wasn't anyway where he could get around delivering this news. As they made their way up to the roof, he briefly explained the phone call as best he could. "So Greg called me about fifteen minutes ago and told me that he escaped from the chair he was tied to and that he was home alone. He called me wanting me to run a trace, which I did, but I told Greg that he needed to get out of the house. I told him to leave the phone on and to go to a neighbor's house or something, but right as he was about to leave, Calvin had just got home. Greg then hid in a closet but shortly after, there were six gun shots. Greg said he had a gun so I'm sure he shot one of his kidnappers but I don't know what happened after that. I just know that there was a lot of shouting and one of the kidnappers made a very serious threat to kill him. After that, the phone call was disconnected."

The entire occurrence of events was disturbing and upsetting, but there was one fact that had caught everyone's attention. "Who disconnected the call?" Catherine hesitantly asked.

Shaking his head, Nick replied, "It wasn't Greg."

"And you said that you we're on the phone with him for about fifteen minutes," Grissom asked, confirming a variable to the thought's brewing in his head.

As soon as Nick had nodded his head, Sara had instantly formulated in her own mind what Grissom had been thinking. "Which is plenty of time to run a trace," she firstly stated. "If the kidnapper turned off the phone, that means they would have seen how long the phone call was."

"And seeming that the kidnappers we're smart enough to use a disposable phone when they called us so that we couldn't trace it, they're going to realize that a trace can be made using a house phone."

"Which mean's Greg's not even going to be at that house," Nick inevitably concluded. After Nick said this, silence filled the elevator except for the faint, mocking tone of cheerful elevator music. Still desperately clinging onto the paper that showed Greg's location, Nick looked at it with doubt now. It wasn't salvation anymore; it was nothing more then a pointless lead. "If Greg's not even going to be in that house, then what point is it to even go and look there?" Nick mused with skepticism thickly portrayed in his tone.

"Technically, we can't assume that Calvin caught onto the fact that we traced the call," Catherine lightheartedly reasoned.

Sara's brows furrowed upon hearing both of their responses and her eye's narrowed at both of them in disbelief that they were even pondering these extraneous circumstances. "Are you guys serious? You know _technically_, Greg's in trouble and we know where he is right now! We shouldn't be assuming anything other then Greg is in that house waiting for us to save him, so don't ponder technicalities and stop being skeptical! Greg called us so that we would help him!" Sara valiantly defended.

After Sara's proud and audacious speech, Grissom immediately fell into the essence of her heroic nature and started to formulate a plan to further insure their finding of Greg. "If Calvin does choose to leave the house though, it would probably be best if we put out an APB. Do you guy's know Calvin's car or plate?" he urgently questioned as his brain formed together a plan to help track down the kidnappers.

"From what we know, he drives a black Crown Victorian and we had Brass look up his plates a while ago," Nick firstly answered. "But I wouldn't be surprised if he changed vehicles on us," he then regretfully suggested.

After hearing Nick add the doubt to the simple fact of what he was saying, Sara shot a vicious, unforgiving glare at him but before she could say anything, Grissom seized the chance before she could. "We go off what we know Nick and we work with what we have," she calmly yet sternly encouraged."

Once Grissom had said this to him, Nick met his eyes with a sorrow gleam in them. It was easier for all of them to hold hope in this situation, but they didn't hear the phone call, they didn't live the moment with Greg like he did. That moment of hope within Greg, realizing that help was on its way was the most priceless form of joy he had ever experienced, and to hear the despair of having freedom ripped from his grasp, it practically vanquished the hope from Nick's soul as it had Greg.

Upon receiving a silent response from Nick, Grissom knew immediately that Nick was in too far of a fragile place at the moment to have his emotion's questioned. Continuing with what he was saying, Grissom cleared his throat proceeded to inform them of his efficient plan. "From the location that Greg is currently at, we should get an APB put out in search for a Black Crown Victorian with Calvin's plate and search within 15 mile radius of it. Chances are, they're probably leaving now and so are we, so by the time we get to the house by helicopter, they shouldn't be too far from the house by car."

"Just in case Calvin has left the house, we'll be able to find him," Catherine added with an optimistic smile spread across her face.

It was then that the elevator finally reached the top floor and as the doors opened, all four CSI's could see the helicopter waiting for them on the roof. Without saying another word, Nick immediately left the group and went to board the helicopter. With a strained look in his eyes, he charged the helicopter and was pleased to see that Brass was able to come through upon his request and was quickly able to bring one to the station. Before he could get more then a few feet away from the group though, a hand lashed out and gripped the collar of his shirt, and sent him back in the direction that he was leaving.

"What the hell," he viciously snapped as he saw it was Catherine who grabbed his shirt. "We need to go," he desperately yelled back as he ushered toward the awaiting helicopter.

"I don't think you're currently in a stable position to be going there right now Nick," Catherine tried to respectfully reason.

"Are you joking," Nick retorted with a menacing stare. "I'm fine," he then assured, though it was a forced statement. "Listen, regardless if he's there or not, I talked to Greg on the phone while he was in that house and I can probably explain everything that happened a hell of a lot better then any of you guys can! I don't care what any of you say but I'm going!" Nick firmly stated with both frustration and fury in his eyes. Without another word he then stormed off toward the helicopter and immediately boarded it.

Clearly seeing that there wasn't any negotiating with Nick at this point, there wasn't anything else that they could do except follow his lead. "After you," Catherine politely ushered.

"Actually, I think I'm going to stay back here," Grissom informed as he went to head back toward the elevator.

"Why?" Catherine instantly asked. "Don't you want to come?"

"I wouldn't be able to process the crime scene and someone needs to go and get the APB set; I'll head over and help Brass get it set up," he logically reasoned.

At first Catherine merely nodded her head, but seconds later, he brain formulated a plan that would also further include Grissom and his helpful services. "You know, I think I'll stay back here with you Griss and you and I can go though these journals that we found in Calvin's basement and Sara, you can go with Nick and head down to Greg's current location," she suggested.

"You sure Catherine?" she asked, confirming her bosses request as she started to make her way toward the helicopter.

"Completely," she assured. "Plus it's probably a good idea to keep someone here just incase we get a call or something."

"I'll be sure to call if we have any information on Greg," Sara then assured before she turned around and ran toward the helicopter. As she boarded it and took her seat next to Nick she then informed him of why it was just her joining him. "Catherine is going to stay here and process the journals from Calvin's basement with Grissom while you and I head over to that house. Grissom is also going to set up that APB so we'll have eyes in the sky too," she assured with confidence and a warming smile.

Nick merely nodded his head and then turned his attention toward the window. As the helicopter took flight and began to head over toward the house that Greg was currently in, Nick immediately began to search the ground below him, his eyes frantically looking for a black Crown Victorian. Regardless of the altitude that they were flying at and the fact that Nick couldn't tell the difference between a Hummer and a Volkswagen Beetle, he still felt like he was doing everything that he could to find Greg, and that was good enough for him.

It didn't take long though before Nick was forced to stop searching for car's though as when they entered the plains of the Nevada desert, there wasn't a single car in sight. The helicopter ride after that felt like it had lasted 3 hours when in reality it had only taken them 30 minutes.

Arriving at the house that Greg was supposed to be in, the first thing that had hit Nick's mind was when he had told Greg to escape from the house and to go to a neighbors house or even a gas station. If he had left the house, it wasn't going to be an act that would do him much good. The whole flight out here, they were flying across a flat, vacant desert plain and the nearest location of civilization was a good 15 miles out. If Greg had left the house and escaped on foot, he would have been a lost soul amidst the sun's unforgiving heat and a brutal temptation on the wild's inhabitance. Greg wouldn't have any more of a chance surviving out there then he did in Calvin's hands.

As the helicopter took it's landing upon the desert's turf just a mere hundred feet from the house, Nick and Sara immediately immerged from the copter and ran up to the house that Greg was supposedly still in, though Nick knew it wasn't going to be a likely possibility any longer. Like before, he noticed that the door had once again been left open and as soon as he saw this, he knew that they weren't going to be searching the house for anyone; it was going to be clear.

As the two of them moved through the house, Sara checking out the kitchen, living room, and bathroom, Nick made his way further down the hall, checking the room with a missing door and broken chair – most likely the room Greg was held in – and checking the room at the end of the hallway. As he entered the bedroom though, he saw a sight before him that he wasn't expecting in the least. There was a body limply lying on a blood soaked bed and on the floor, a secondary blood source and a fair sized pool of it.

As of protocol, Nick went to go and check to see if the body on the bed was still alive, but before he could check the pulse, he saw two other doors behind him that instantly caught his attention. The one on his left led to a bathroom which he quickly cleared, and the one on his right, Nick instantly recognized it. The room on his right was the closet that Greg told him he was hiding in. Large coats heavily hung in the corner and Nick noticed that it was indeed a good hiding place as it would have perfectly hidden Greg. There was also a bloody house phone on the floor and right next to it, a Glock 17. As he cleared the weapon, he noticed that the gun had been completely unloaded and looking at the body on the bed, Nick knew that it was in fact Greg that had fired off those six shots.

"The house is clear Nick; did you… find… anything?" Sara began to say, but as she entered the master bedroom at the end of the hallway and saw the crime scene before her, it was clear that this was the primary room of the dysfunctional chaos that occurred. "What the hell happened in here?" she asked with wide eyes and a quivering voice of concern.

As Nick came out from the depths of the closet, he began to trail is eye's throughout the erratic mess covering the room. He tried to play it in his mind what had happened based off what he had heard during the phone call, but he was having trouble trying to focus his mind at the moment. His eyes leaped from the blood pool to the window to the duct tape to the gun and all it looked like to him was unexplainable chaos. The only thing that he could think about was whether or not Greg was still alive.

While Nick continued to stand there like a zombie, Sara decided to call in a group of CSI's to process the house as well as David Phillips, the lab's coroner to come and pick up the body. After she made the calls, she then walked over to Nick and took a stance by him. Her eyes began to wonder around the room and as well took in the chaos and tried to make as much sense out of it as she could, but in the end, she couldn't come up with anything. Brining her attention to Nick, she then informed him, "I called David and had Brass send over a few CSI's to process the scene. Before we leave though, you wanna try to walkthrough what happened here?"

"It's hard to know where to begin?" Nick said with a vague expression on his face.

"Well Greg called you right?" she firstly asked. After she saw Nick silently nod his head, she then continued with her reasoning. "So you were with him as he went through the motions of this whole thing."

"Yeah but I can't explain who this guy is or what caused this pool or anything," Nick debated in doubt.

"Come on Nick," she irritably huffed. "You sound like you're making excuses here, like you've never done this and you're giving up. Nick, you know as CSI's we're given puzzles that we need to solve every single day. We always start off with missing pieces and it's our job to find them and put them all together in the end, which is exactly what we're going to do here. You even said it yourself, you know what happened here better then any of us do," she rightfully encouraged.

"Figuring out what happened here isn't going to find Greg though!" he then snapped at her out of no where. "Hell I doubt we even need to be looking for Greg anymore!" he continued to shout out in frustration.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Sara questioned with anger at first feeling like Nick was just giving up, but then sympathy filled her eyes are she realized what Nick was ultimately suggesting.

"I think they shot Greg!" he inevitably shouted but once he did, the words got caught in his throat, his conscience shocked that he verbally confessed to what he was thinking. "That pool is of his blood and I just, I know that they shot him!"

"Nick, you can't just come to that conclusion alright. You have no proof that Greg is dead," she calmly reasoned. "Listen, I asked Brass to send Wendy and Hodges over to collect evidence from here, but we need to figure out what happened," she continued to calmly encourage. "I think we need to start at the beginning okay. Start from square one which is when Greg called you. So what happened after that?"

Nick always knew Sara to be persistent and sometimes it was something that got on his nerves. When he wanted to shut down, there she was nagging him; but all in all, it was something that was for the better. Taking in a deep breath, as he was instructed, Nick began to explain what had happened during the phone call from the beginning. "When Greg called, I think he was in the front of the house because when he put the phone down after I told him to leave, it didn't take long for him to look out the front door and then grab the phone again," Nick firstly explained and also suggested.

"Out in the kitchen I saw a charger for a house phone so that's probably where Greg found the phone and he then chose to call you," Sara added to further validate Nick's thinking. "What happened after that?"

"When Greg told me that Calvin was back, he said that he was going to look for a place to hide and he chose to hide in here," Nick explained as he pointed to the closet. "He said that there were coats that he could hide behind and you can see the coats in the corner. I also found the house phone and gun in here so I willing to bet that this is the closet Greg hid in."

"So while Greg is hiding in the closet, the kidnappers then come into the house. When they notice that Greg is missing, they think he's escaped, so then what do they do?" Sara then pondered as she tried to put herself in Greg's position.

"I don't really know what was going on there; Greg was just trying to keep quiet. He did say though that he was really scared," he then bitterly informed.

"So Greg didn't really say anything?"

"Not for a minute or two. When we got the trace though, I was so excited that I practically screamed it into the phone, but it was like after I did that, everything went to shit," Nick regretfully explained. "The next thing I heard was six gun shots. Greg told me that he found a gun which I just found it in the closet so I'm taking that when this guy here opened the door, Greg unloaded a massacre on him. There was then silent for a moment but then I heard another voice and it sounded like someone screamed the name David. After that though, there was just a lot of shouting; I couldn't depict one voice from the other."

Feeling that they were now beginning to make sense of everything that had taken place in the ten minute phone call, Sara took a moment to begin to piece together the information that she was aware of. "Alright, so right now, let's put ourselves in Greg's position. You shot one of your kidnappers, what's the first thing you think to do?"

"I would try to escape," Nick instantly answered without a second thought.

Agreeing with him, Sara merely nodded her head once. "To me it seems like this guy, our John Doe or David, I think he was the only one who was in here. If Calvin and the other kidnapper were in here, there wouldn't have been a delay in yelling. Also, Greg probably would've known if all three of his kidnappers were in the room, so he probably would have conserved his ammunition a little better," she suggested. Then with a slight huff in her voice, she then felt inclined to point this fact out as she said, "I mean six shots into one guy, it seems excessive but then again, you've got adrenaline to factor in and also the fact that you're fighting for your life. You shoot a guy who's trying to kill you, you're gonna make sure that when you kill him, you get the job done."

"That sounds reasonable to me," Nick simply agreed.

"So you're Greg, you shoot the living daylight's out of this bastard, you have no more ammo, and your first thought is to escape. The only door, yes it leads to the front door, but you know that they other kidnappers are right outside and after firing six consecutive shot's, you know it's gonna get their attention and they're gonna come running. So, how do you escape?"

"I'd go for the window; it's the only way at this point that I'm gonna be able to get out of this house," he rightfully suggested.

Once again Sara ushered a single nod of her head. "The window is open, so I think this is what Greg did also. But you said that you heard more shouting and I don't think there would be if Greg got out the window."

"So the kidnappers run into the room and see Greg trying to escape so at least one of them went to grab Greg."

"Greg's now trapped once again," Sara unfortunately concluded. "It was after that you began to hear yelling right?"

"It was a lot of simultaneous yelling so it was hard to pick out what was what; I couldn't pick out a distinct voice or really anything that they were saying."

"You had to of heard something in specific though, I mean come on Nick, when people yell, they're gonna get your attention. You didn't hear a single thing?" she doubtfully questioned.

"Well I basically heard one of his kidnappers threatening to kill him, but the other one; I do remember hearing him say that they can't kill him yet."

Once Nick said this, a smile played along her lips, but keeping this uplifting bit on knowledge to herself for the time being, she continued to ask, "Do you remember anything else after that?"

"I remember silence," Nick calmly and distantly said. "Someone then picked up the phone and turned it off."

Again, Sara noticed that Nick seemed to have shut. Whether it was from embarrassment or out of a sense of failure, it still didn't stop Sara from trying to raise his heavy hopes. "So now that we've found some of our missing pieces, we now have a clearer picture," Sara firstly assured with a warm smile. It was then that Nick finally looked at her and for the first time, she saw an essence of hope. "What's still missing though is that we don't know what caused the blood pool," she then added, but as soon as she did, she saw the light once again diminish from Nick's eyes.

"It could have been from beating Greg, or one of them finally killed him," Nick depressingly pointed out, the inner despair still holding onto him.

"I'm gonna challenge that," Sara then quipped with confidence and whit. "I know you know Calvin better then I do, but what I do know is that it's clear that he's the brain of this whole operation and that he's thought everything through. Whoever was threatening to kill Greg, the other one stopped him because they can't kill him _yet. _Granted, that's still not a pretty sentence but it at least insures that they didn't kill Greg here. There's a reason why Greg wasn't killed. If there wasn't a reason, he would be lying right here. Calvin's put a reason behind everything and this place didn't hold the value, therefore, Calvin couldn't have kill Greg and this thing isn't over."

"I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing," Nick equally challenged, his conscience hanging onto the phrase that this thing isn't over. Nick didn't know what bother him more, the contemplation that Greg could ultimately be dead or the contemplation over whether Greg is still alive and still forced to suffer through a madman's merciless act of revenge.

"Still, it provides us the opportunity to save Greg," Sara once again hopefully assured.

"So, if this isn't the place where they were going to kill Greg, then why did they come here in the first place?"

Considering Calvin's obsession with symbolism, Sara began to ponder this very question. In the end though, her mind led her to the only connection that she knew this place had. "Maybe they knew this guy? Maybe this was his house?" she said while pointing at the corpse on the bed. "If they knew him though, they probably knew him well. I don't know too many people who would offer to help assist in a kidnapping unless they knew the reason."

"Hold on a sec, let me check his wallet," Nick said as he carefully began to subtly rifle through the corpse's pockets. With his finger's slipping into the front left pocket, he then pulled out their John Doe's I.D. "His name is David Carson," Nick briskly informed but as soon as he said the name aloud, his mind instantly put together the connection. "This is Mark Carson's brother," he informed with wide eyes and a hollow expression of shock.

"Who's Mark Carson?" Sara then asked as she didn't recognize the name.

"He's Calvin's accomplice; he's been working with him since the very beginning when Greg was abducted," he informed with same blank stare, his mind frozen by the reality of this news.

"So wait," Sara firstly said making sure that she had Nick's attention with what she had to say. "Does that mean that Greg killed his kidnapper's brother?"

With a subtle nod of his head, Nick then proceeded to point out the equally disturbing fact that remained. "And Calvin kidnapped Greg because he wanted to avenge his brother's death."

"This isn't just personal for Calvin anymore," Sara ultimately concluded with a dark, grim stricken stare.

"Realizing that it was McKeen that killed Warrick, and that moment when I was holding that gun to his head, it took everything inside of me not to shoot him," Nick firstly explained with a somber tone. "I loved Warrick like a brother," he then proudly expressed. "Greg is just as much Mark's captive as he is Calvin's, and killing is captor's actual brother, Mark won't rest until he see's that Greg get's what he deserves."

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So I left you guys with a little bit of mystery here with this chapter :)! As always, I hope you all enjoyed :D! I will admit, this was kinda a filler chapter but they were events that needed to take place and not only that, but they were events that I needed to get out of the way so that the story will be able to flow more smoothly beyond this chapter.

So be sure to look forward to chapter 27 which holds the inevitable reality of what resulted of that gun shot. If you guys would like to take another guess, I would love to see how your views have changed if they have :D!

I also have individual responses for some of the reviews you guys have left me for chapter 25, but I can't say anything to you right now without giving anything away, so be sure to look for those at the end of chapter 27 :D!

Anyway, off to express my gratitude :D!

For alerting, many thanks to namine redfield!

For favoriting, many thanks to namine redfield and IxBELIEVExINxEMO!

And for reviewing, CJaMes12, Tracy, VisionX23, WMG (4x… I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH :D), LovingYourWork, CSI001, dolxxx, ilovemiax, Abby, and Nime Tsuki (PM). I have to say, this has been my favorite set of reviews now to date :D! I always love it when you guys make predictions and such as it shows me that you all are really engaged with my story with is a great feeling. I can't wait for you guys to finally know what happened to Greg though :D!

So until chapter 27, See ya later alligator :D!


	27. Home Sweet Home

Hey guys, I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long. I wanted to hold out a day or two and post this chapter today because for you CSI fans in America (and for you CSI fans around the world and have been following the CSI episodes that have been airing in America online), then you probably know that tonight is the episode that will be Marg's last episode. As a major fan of her on the show, I just want to wish her the best of luck in everything that she does and that I hope to see her make an appearance back on the show in the future.

Other then that, please enjoy chapter 27 which is just cover in chocolate, sprinkles, and like 20 cherries on top of this delicious sundae of a chapter ha ha. Hands down it was one of my top favorites to write and I obviously hope that everyone else enjoys it too. And please don't forget to review and for my reviewers, I have left just about everyone a snazzy little note at the end leaving my own little commenty reviews for you guys :D!

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**Chapter 27: Home Sweet Home**

Since she got home at around 9:00 o'clock last night, Monica Brush had been trying to lull herself to sleep. It wasn't a surprise to her though that she was having difficulty doing so. What had happened to her the night before was still fresh in her mind and paranoia was a present factor in her conscience. Every creak that she heard, the first thing that came to her mind was it was her assailant making his way down the hall and was going to attack her again. Thinking back to her encounter with Ray Langston before she had left, she had wished that she had taken his request to place someone at her door for protection. She had declined the request due to the fact that she didn't want to be a burden and she wanted the cops to be looking for the guy Calvin had abducted, but she was a victimized civilian as well, and she figured that she deserved to have protection as well. Regardless though, she gave up the offer and now she was stuck in her frightened conscience and was making the pointless effort to lull herself to sleep.

There was something else besides the creaks in her house that was keeping her up though. Since her conversation with Catherine Willows yesterday, confessing to her the truth of what actually happened with Aaron five years ago, the events that transpired back then continuously kept playing over and over again in her mind. Her conscience getting the better of her, the guilt that she was baring really began to way heavy on her shoulders. Yes the truth was out and nothing was going to happen to her, but the guilt of her actions would never cease from haunting her. The disappointment that she saw in Catherine's face was chilling and it took a toll on her morals. But above all, it was what her selfish act had caused. Not only did it lead to her rape and now restless nights, but it ultimately got an innocent man kidnapped. She could only pray for the best regarding his fate.

Checking the clock for what seemed to be the millionth time, she saw that is was 9:15 in the morning and as she looked at her window, she could see the glow of the morning sun against her blinds. Regardless of how uneasy she was at the moment, the view and warmth of the sun was tranquil, a feeling that almost seemed foreign at the moment.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door. At first Monica ignored the disturbance as she didn't want to leave the enchanting comfort of her bed, but when there was a second knock at her door, it had caught her full attention. The banging against the wood was frantic and the muffled yelling on the other side sounded desperate. As she got up from her bed, she grabbed a sweatshirt from off of the floor, put it on and zipped it up before making her way to the front door.

Once again, as she approached the front door she could hear the desperate yelling on the other side. Standing on her tip toes, she checked through the peep hole in her door and questioned the person standing on her porch. "Can I help you?" she cautiously asked through the door.

"Please, please you need to help me! I found this guy on the side of the road and I was taking him to Desert Palm but I ran out of gas! Please you have to help!" the man desperately screamed.

Hearing the man's desperately plea, Monica cautiously opened her door, though minded her instincts and kept the dead bolt on the door. As she peered out at the man standing before her, she saw that there was blood on his shirt but panic in his eyes. She didn't exactly know how to respond to what she was seeing but before she could say anything, the man once again pleaded his case.

"Please, you have to help! I was driving and I found this guy lying on the side of the road and I stopped to see if he was okay and… just holy shit… this guy looks like he's been through hell and back. So I put him in my car and I was going to take him to Desert Palm Hospital but then all of a sudden my car ran out of gas. We were right by this neighborhood and for the past six houses I've been trying to see if someone could call the hospital but no one answered the door. Thank god you did though!" the man whole-heartedly explained.

"You don't have a cell phone," was the first thing that came to Monica's mind. It wasn't that she didn't want to help as she did, but due to what happened to her just the other night, she couldn't help but to have her guard up.

"Had it last night when I was drinking; this morning, I don't know what happened to it," he explained as he let out a small chuckle of embarrassment.

"Listen, I'll call 911 and have an ambulance come and get him okay," she offered as she took a step away from the door.

"Thank you ma'am," the man firstly said, expressing his gratitude. "But I'm sorry to ask this and I don't mean to intrude, but is there anyway you could open your home to this guy. This is embarrassing but because I had so much shit in the back of my car, I didn't have any where else to put him other then the trunk. Listen, he's still bleeding and the more blood he looses the more likely he'll die and I'm fighting for this guy right now. Do it for him more then me but could you please let him stay here and wait for the ambulance. I'll wait in my car if you want me too but please, for his sake," the man then proceeded to beg.

Monica kept quiet for a moment as she began to ponder the man's story. Genuinely he looked distressed and he truly seemed like a helpful citizen. After she looked into the man's eyes though and saw the desperate plea in them, she finally decided to open her home to the wounded civilian. "I'll get some towels and you can leave him on the couch," she explained as she removed the deadbolt from the door.

Instantly, the man took off running but before he was out of sight, he shouted back to her, "Thank you ma'am!" Meanwhile, Monica went into her bathroom and grabbed a few towels from under the sink and began to lay them across the couch in the living room. As she was laying the towels down though, it was then that the man had returned back to her front door and in his arms carried a severely wounded man.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed as he hand covered her mouth to hide her shock. "You sure he's still alive?" she then asked in both surprise and concern.

"He's still breathing," the man assured as he gently laid the fragile man down on the couch.

Monica couldn't take her eyes off this poor man and instantly cursed herself for doubting what this guy was telling her. If she turned away his desperate pleas, then there could have been a chance that the man before her would've died.

"Do you want to watch over him; I'll call 911," she was then asked by the man standing at her door.

"Phone's in the kitchen," she informed as she kneeled down next to the couch and took the brutalized victim's bound hands in hers. "You're gonna be okay," she calmly whispered.

Once she said this, it was then that the man on her couch started to stir. "-elp… me," Monica heard him manage to choke out. "We're calling an ambulance right now," she assured with a hopeful smile. She then looked up at the man in her kitchen and was pleased to see that he was calling 911. What she saw next though began to disturb her. Looking back at the man on her couch, she saw that he had opened his eyes and as he looked at her, he began to shake his head. "He kidnapped me," he then barely whispered.

Even though she could barely hear him, she was able to read his cracked lips and as soon as she saw the unmistakable horror in his eyes, there wasn't a second past that where she considered doubting what she just heard. Instantly, her muscles tensed and she began to formulate a plan to try to get the now possible threat out of her house.

"So is the ambulance on its way?" she asked as she made her way over to the front door, trying to passively imply that it was time for her guest – or intruder – to leave.

"Be here in like five minutes," he answered, though Monica caught on to the tone in his voice; suggestive and unsure. Instantly she started to worry, her mind considering the possibility that this was a set up.

"Well I can take it over from here," she insured as she opened the door for him now directly implying that she wanted him to leave.

"Mind if I stay till they get here," the man asked as he arrogantly took a seat in the chair sitting next to the couch.

"Actually I do," Monica then forcefully ordered, asserting herself in this situation.

Upon hearing her trail at portraying a dominant stature, the man then stood up and walked over toward the girl. "Well actually, I don't care what you think," he simply said as he loomed over her.

Instantly, the bravado in her eyes was diminished. Staring at the man who stood at least a good 6 foot 5, he small 5 foot 6 self sunk into the depths of the wall as she looked in terror at her beastly intruder. "Why don't you go and sit next to our wounded civilian and keep him company while we wait for that ambulance," her intruder then suggested. Seeming that Monica wasn't really in any position any longer to argue with him, she passively did as she was told and swiftly made her way back over to the couch.

Kneeling down on the floor next to the broken man, like before she extended her hand forward and held onto his. At this moment though, she didn't know if she was doing it more to comfort him or her own growing sense of fear. When her intruder began to walk over toward them though, instantly Monica could tell who was more terrified between the two of them once she felt two hands strongly squeeze onto hers. Fortunately, the man continued to walk right past them and went into the kitchen though Monica had noticed that he had just made his way out the back door and into her back yard.

With her intruder in the backyard and the front door open and available for her chance to get out of her own house, but before she could even consider making a break for it, a helpless voice begged her not to. "Please… don't leave," she heard him beg as he clutched onto her hand tighter.

As Monica looked into his eyes, she could see an essence of terror flashing through them and knew that it would be utterly selfish of her to abandon him. "I won't," she simply stated with a comforting smile as she held onto his hands tighter as well. "What's your name?" she then asked.

"Greg," he quietly replied.

"I'm Monica," she said, introducing herself as well.

There was an awkward silence after that, neither of them exactly knowing what to say at the moment. As Monica's eyes began to casually glance at Greg and his mutilated body, her eyes became fixated on the bloody hole around his knee. "What happened to your leg?" she curiously asked.

The pain in his knee was the worst by far, and the best way that he found to suppress that pain was not to think about it. When Monica had asked him this question though, instantly his mind had reminded him of the pain. A tight grimace and a stifled groan occurred as he thought back to the moment when he had been shot.

_An instantaneous and completely unbearable and agonizing pain engulfed his leg as soon as he felt the horrendous trauma of being shot. Greg felt as if his whole leg was on fire, and as he saw the blood starting to pool onto the ground, his brain now fully comprehending what had just happened, he finally let out an ear-shattering scream of pure anguish. _

_This was the first time that Calvin had ever shot someone, and instantly, he felt ecstasy as he basked in the glorious power that the weapon held. Seeing the horror in Greg's eyes as he held the gun to his head was entertaining, but after seeing his display of agony, it was purely divine. As he was holding the gun at Greg, he knew he wasn't going to kill him, but he also wasn't going to shoot Greg either. That wasn't until his mind reminded himself of the number of times he had threatened Greg's life with the gun but never actually used it. The gun's power of destruction called to him and Calvin realized that it was time to finally fall into its temptation, and he knew perfectly how to get his point across. _

_Before his finger squeezed the trigger, in a quick movement he aimed the gun at Greg's left knee and fired. The result of the action was sublime and he could feel the sufferance that he had now put Greg through, and knowing that he had caused this agonizing torture, it filled him with such satisfaction. Kneeling down next to Greg, Calvin informed him with a twisted expression of pleasure in his voice. "I've heard that this is called kneecapping."_

_By this point, Greg wasn't even able to control his suffering anymore, he could only give into it and by god it was the most unimaginable and excruciating pain that he had ever experienced. Tears were uncontrollably streaming down his face and as his gaze fell upon his knee, it made the anguish that much worse and he let out an agonizing bawl. _

_After taking the moment to bask in Greg's tortured being, Calvin then shuffled back a foot or two and closely examined the wound in Greg's leg. It was hard for him to see past the denim jeans and as he barely touched his leg, it had startled Greg and his leg had flinched. It was a subtle movement on Greg's part, but it antagonized every nerve that swarmed his knee cap and it effortlessly pushed a new wave of tears past Greg's eyes and a bellowing cry left his vocal cords. _

"_Hurt's doesn't it," Calvin mocked as he saw Greg's reaction. Standing up again, he hovered over Greg and merely watched his captive helplessly suffer through the pain. As his eye sight met with the bullet wound once again though, his true inner sadism came through._

_At this moment, Greg felt like he was nothing more then a complete vulnerable mess. He was under Calvin's influence, his power and his control. His being belonged to him; mind, body, and soul. _

_From the very beginning, the second that he was pulled into that van, Calvin had control over his mind. The first menacing glare, the first touch, the first words that he spoke to him that had already confirmed his inevitable fate. Since the very beginning, Greg was a victim of the his terror. As time passed and sadistic events occurred though, regardless of the number of times he tried to portray a sense of bravery, it was all a pseudo sense of the concept. Greg's mind belong to Calvin; every though, every feeling, every emotion, all controlled and corrupted by him. _

_From the very beginning, the second that he was pulled into that van, Calvin had control over his body. The way he tightly bound his limbs that forced him to pathetically squirm against his intolerable and ruthless restrains, it was all a desperate yet wasted effort that ultimately incased him in the feeling of entrapment. Since the very beginning, Greg was a helpless victim to Calvin's brutal touch. Every hit, every kick, every gentle caress that slithered against his body with his sandpaper tips, it broke his body and teased every nerve without the slightest sense of remorse. It was now that his body truly belonged to Calvin though. Under the power of a madman's touch with a crippled limb, he was beyond the will to save himself anymore. _

_From the very beginning, the second that he was pulled into that van, Calvin craved control over his soul. Greg knew that his soul was the one thing that he would have to fight his hardest to hold onto. Countless times, Calvin had tried to make him his, to have utter control over him. Countless times he fought back. Soul felt vanquished but it never really was. Without his soul, his being, he never would have tried to escape. His soul held hope for what was on the other side; freedom, and he desperately craved it. Clipping away the strings that bound him to Calvin's control, he fought for freedom and Salvation was on his way. It was impossible for him to explain how close freedom felt, but when it was ripped from his hands with sadistic greed, it was the moment where he felt that life would soon meet its inevitable end. Calvin wanted him, all of him, and that is exactly what he got. _

_From this moment on, every everlasting second till the very end, it belonged to Calvin. His existence was in his Master's hands and he would dictate when it ended. There wasn't anything that was going to save him. Life was a concept that seemed too depressing to even understand. It wasn't worth a god damn thing if this was how it was going to end; a slave to a sadist: a puppet to Its Master. _

_Slowly, he felt his life being swallowed whole. Regretfully he surrendered everything. But it only accomplished so much. He may have been lost from being, but not living. As long as he was breathing, his Master would control his every breath, his every tear, and every hollow scream, and that is exactly what Calvin did; controlled him. _

_Violently he was pulled back into everything that he wanted vanquished and he was forced to feel. It already seemed unimaginable to Greg that the pain in his knee could become any worse, but it did and with no mercy. A yell of pure torture clawed its way through his vocal cords, practically damaging them yet again after putting the ruthless strain against them. His exclaim was no more a reaction then it was a release, but in reality, it didn't do a damn thing. The pressure being placed upon his bullet wound viciously attacked every nerve and caused the most excruciating pain that practically pushed him to the very brink of consciousness. _

_Forcing his eyes open, he looked up at Calvin who was still standing over him. With piercing red, tear stained eyes, he pleaded for Calvin to express a sense of empathy, but he quickly realized that it was a useless ploy. The rapture in his eyes portrayed the joy he felt for the cost of his suffering. Then with a cruel, heartless mockery in his voice, he said with a snide smile, "Try to escape now you son-of-a-bitch."_

_Further mocking his reality, Greg couldn't bare to look at the sadist any longer. Instead he looked down at what was causing the piercing anguish. It was Calvin kneading the bullet further into his leg with the toe of his workman's boot, sharply twisting his foot left and right, and forcefully imbedding the lead into his flesh. Once again seeing exactly what was happening to him, it issued a whole new level of anguish and Greg simply couldn't take it any more. "STO-… PL…SE… F…K'N… -OP!" Greg forcibly gasped out with tears of distress streaming down the side of his face. _

_Whatever it was, something must have appealed to Calvin's sense of humanity, or he could have just gotten bored, but whatever it was, Calvin finally removed his foot from his mutilated leg. The second after the torment stopped, an automatic reaction that he couldn't control occurred. There was a heave in the pit of his stomach and immediately, he rolled onto his side and instantly, acid regurgitated itself onto the floor. _

_Once all the bile had left his stomach and shredded esophagus, Greg merely pulled his weak body slightly off to the right, away from vomit and away from his kidnappers. Weakness taking over, he dropped his body to the floor and in humiliation allowed more tears to fall from his ducts. At this moment he had nothing left. No hope, no dignity, no control, no life. He doubted that there was even acid in his stomach anymore. The only thing he had was the blood in his body, but he was even losing that as it slowly drained from his wound. At this point though, to him, it unfortunately wasn't draining fast enough._

_Calvin scuffed in pride and disgust after watching Greg's pathetic and degrading performance. When he dropped his body to the floor though and continued to express his distress as such, it was then that Calvin finally excused his attention from the mess on the floor. Walking over to Mark who was standing at a distance on the other side of the room, as he approached him, he saw a bitter expression on his face and a displeased look in his eyes. "Are you alright?" Calvin cautiously asked with concern, not knowing exactly what was going through Mark's mind, whether his distress was solely from his brother's death or if it was from something else._

"_I don't exactly think its fair that this prick didn't do a damn thing to you and yet you're the one that get's to torture him," Mark spoke up out of jealousy as fury seethed through his teeth. _

_Instantly Calvin was able to pick on Mark's dark and disturbed nature and he knew that it was now something that he needed to concern himself with. "Mark, he killed your brother, not even 10 minutes ago. I don't know if I can trust you being able to control yourself anymore," he carefully reasoned. _

"_Like your any fuckin better!" Mark immediately screamed back at him. "What about when he said that thing about Aaron? You lost your shit man, Dave and I had to pull you off of him! You we're two seconds from strangling him to death!" he viciously retorted._

"_Well what did you do? You put a gun in his mouth and were two seconds from pulling the trigger! Mark the difference is that Aaron's death happened five years ago, Dave's happened 10 minutes ago! You get alone in a room with him… I know you, you're gonna kill him!" Calvin continued to reason as he continued to see the grown stress within Mark._

"_I won't let David's death be in vain," Mark silently admitted as he attempted to fight back his forming tears. _

"_And what exactly do you mean by that," Calvin immediately asked after, catching on to what Mark was ultimately saying. When he remained silent though, Calvin seized his opportunity to lay down the reality for Mark. "I want you to listen to me," he firstly ordered with a stern tone. "This is mine. What we're doing to Greg; it's because of me. I have worked too hard and have waited too long for this to become all fucked up just because you can't control your temper anymore. So let me put it this way; if you kill Greg, I'll kill you," Calvin heartlessly threatened with an inhumane, demonic glare. _

"_But he killed my fuckin brother!" Mark once again yelled back at Calvin. _

"_And he was an accomplice in killing mine," Calvin informed with the same harsh, sadistic tone. "I started this; it's going to end my way," he once again selfishly explained. "Now moving on," he carelessly suggested as he smoothly changed the subject. "I need you to put him in the trunk for me and be ready to leave this house in three minutes," Calvin inarguably ordered as he went to leave the room. _

"_Wait, what?" Mark immediately snapped back at him. "We're leaving now?"_

"_Why the hell would we stay her Mark? Nick knows where we are! Do you really think he's not on his way right now?" Calvin strongly debated. _

"_I'm not leaving my brother," he painfully reasoned knowing that he couldn't just abandon his brother. _

"_Didn't you just fuckin hear me Mark? Nick is coming! People are coming to get Greg right now! They know where we're at! If we don't get out of here now, then this whole thing is fucked! And you know what, that's anything. Once again I've worked too hard on this to see it taken from me! I'm not kidding, if they get Greg, then I'll kill you!" Calvin threatened again. _

"_I can't just leave him though," Mark continued to plead in agony. _

"_Then stay here with him, get arrested for all I care," Calvin selfishly suggested. "Just know this, CSI's are coming down here and trust me Mark, they'll issue this as their new crime scene alright. A coroner will come and pick up David and he'll be fine. You'll see him again I promise. Right now though, we need to get out of here, or else all this is over."_

_At this moment, Mark was completely torn. On one hand he couldn't abandon Calvin but on the other hand, he couldn't abandon his own brother. In the end though, as hard as it was to come to this realization, Mark knew that Calvin was right and that Dave would be in good hands. The dead can wait and Mark knew how much this whole thing meant to him and he knew that he was going to finish it with him. There was also the fantasy of the grand finale, and it was something that Mark would forever regret missing out on, especially after the fact that Greg had killed his brother. "So in the trunk you said?" Mark passively confirmed._

"_Please," he simply said. "I wanna be out of here in two minutes alright?" he ordered as he left the room. _

_Mark merely nodded his head and for a brief second followed Calvin out of the room, but he quickly turned into the room the Greg was held in. Retrieving the duct tape, he made his way back into his brother's bed room and stalked over to his prey. Rolling him onto his back, he took hold of Greg's hands and quickly bound them together. Starting at his wrists, he wrapped Greg's arms together and didn't rip the tape until it covered more then half of his forearms, securely trapping them in the silver adhesive-coated plastic. _

_With his hands now bound, Mark then picked Greg up off the ground by scooping him up. It was an intentional move for he knew that it would disturb Greg's bullet wound and would cause him pain, and as he picked him up, he realized that he had anticipated correctly. Instantly Greg cried out in pain which had instantly upset Mark. "You be quiet or I'll make you," he cold-heartedly threatened. With his captive in hand, Mark then went to leave the room, but before he left, he looked at his brother one last time and whispered to himself, "Your death will not be in vain," and after he said this, he looked at Greg with unforgiving, vengeful eyes._

_As Greg was carried throughout the house, he studied every room with painful eyes of recollection. Passing the room he cleverly escaped from, passing the bathroom he removed his super glue gag and split his lip, passing the living room where he found the gun that he killed David with, passing the kitchen where he found the house phone which he used to call Nick so that he could come save him. It filled Greg with sorrow knowing that Nick was on his way to save him now, but he would be there. Instead Nick was going to find a crime scene and one that he knew was going to lead to dangerously discouraging conclusions. _

_As Mark walked outside, he noticed that the trunk had already been opened and he quickly carried Greg over it. Without saying another word, Mark then unceremoniously dumped Greg into the trunk and immediately slammed it shut._

All he could do after that was wait. Wait for his inevitable death or whatever was next to come. What was going on now though, not he could even comprehend. The only thing that he knew though was that the young woman before him was utterly naive and it discouraged him that she was the only faithful person he felt he could rely on at the moment.

Pulling himself back into reality, he finally acknowledged her question. "I was shot," he bleakly informed. He didn't bother to witness her reaction though. At the moment, what happened to his leg was the last thing on his mind but he was present to the fact that it was impossible for him to be able to escape using his two legs. Right now, he knew that he needed to get out of here, and this naive girl was his only hope. "Listen, you _need_ to call the cops," he then firmly told her to do with a desperate stare.

"An ambulance is coming," she calmly informed him but immediately as she said so, he frantically started to shake his head.

"He didn't call an ambulance," Greg firmly contradicted. "Calvin's on his way."

At this moment, Calvin was a name that was painfully familiar and as soon as she heard Greg say his name, she knew that it wasn't just a coincidence that she heard the same name in less then 24 hours. Then as if on cue, as Monica looked up out her living room window, she could see a tall husky figure making his way toward her front door.

Releasing her hand from Greg's, she charged the front door and locked it and as an extra precaution set the deadbolt in place. Running into the kitchen, she then grabbed the phone and was about to lock the back door as well, but then unexpectedly, her intruder came barging in through the door. Thinking on her feet, she quickly ran in the opposite direction and ran down the hallway and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

As her intruder caught up with her, his hands reached for the door knob and went to turn it, but realizing that it was indeed locked, he immediately resorted to pounding his firsts against the door. "Open this fuckin door!" he screamed at her.

Even though his bellowing voice did intimidate her, she did feel safe behind the locked door with the phone in her hands. Ignoring the man on the other side, she turned on her phone and dialed 911. Holding the phone to her ear, she anxiously waited the voice on the other end to answer her, but for some reason she couldn't hear a damn thing. Hanging up the phone, she then turned it back on and put the phone up to her ear once again, but when she didn't hear the sound of the dial tone, Monica knew exactly what that meant.

"Who you calling?" she then heard a voice tease on the other side of the door as he let out a mocking laugh.

Instantly tears began to form in her eyes as she realized that she was trapped in her home once again. It was also disturbing due to the fact that she was trapped by the same person and not only that but he also had his kidnapping victim with him as well.

"Monica," she then heard a familiar voice call to her. "Listen sweetheart, you're making this more difficult then it has to be. You can either come out peacefully on your own or I can break down this door, break your legs, and drag you out myself," Calvin then casually threatened with a playful tone. When the silence remained on the other side of the door though, Calvin then gave Monica another incentive to encourage her to cooperate. "You know you should have Greg tell you about the bullet in his leg," he then coldheartedly implied.

"He already told me! You shot him," Monica screamed back at him in hysterics. "What do you want Calvin?" she brokenly asked with tears streaming down her face.

"I wanna talk," he merely answered.

"ARE YOU FUCKIN SERIOUS!" she then screamed back at him once she heard this as an incredulous look came across her face. "Yeah you seemed real talkative the other night," she spat back sarcastically.

"Don't you wanna talk about it though?" he simply asked with an intriguing voice.

"No I don't and I want you to leave my god damn house!" she screamed back.

On the other side of the door, Calvin was standing there with a frustrated expression on his face as he attempted to have this pointless conversation with Monica. Quickly growing tiresome though, he finally decided to quit the chit-chat and with a simple, knowing glance at Mark, the two of them raised up their foot and in one strong kick, they broke open the bathroom door.

Without missing a step, Calvin then marched into the bathroom and with strong, forceful hands, grabbed a hold of Monica and her frail figure and effortlessly dragged her out of the bathroom and into the living room. As he then forced her to the ground, he grabbed the roll of duct tape that he brought inside off of the coffee table and began to bind her wrists behind her back and then continued to bind together her naked ankles and thighs. Lifting her up off the ground, Calvin then dragged her body over to the couch and sat her down next to Greg who was now sitting up.

Instantly Monica began to curse herself for betraying her instincts and letting this stranger into her home. Being tied up again by her previous assailant had returned her to her state of weakness and vulnerability and unable to control her emotions at this point, she started to cry out in hysterics.

As Monica began to express her terror stricken state, Greg could only sympathize with her as he completely understood what she was going through. On the contrary though, he also knew that there wasn't anything that he could do that would make her feel any better at this moment. Knowing this, it was especially awkward for him when Monica had moved closer to him and leaned up against his back. It was like she wanted him to protect her, but Greg knew that there wasn't a single god damn thing that he could do to even try to protect her. If anything, it seemed more fitting if she was the one who was protecting him.

"Come on Greg, you're not gonna try and comfort this terrified young lady," Calvin mocked seeing Greg barely reciprocate Monica's reactions.

"Why are we here?" Greg chanced to ask as he chose to ignore Calvin's mocking tone and comment.

"It's the place where it all started," Calvin firstly informed. "Don't you recognize it? How about Monica; do you recognize her?" he began to tease, his voice playing with the facts that he knew Greg knew.

"What are you talking about Calvin?" Monica then snapped at him once she heard him beginning to taunt Greg. "I've never seen this guy before in my life!"

"Are you so sure?" Calvin continued to tease with a crooked smile. "Then I guess you'll both be surprised to find out," he merely quipped as he left the room and headed to the backyard with Mark.

As the two of them were left alone one again, Monica frantically began to struggle against her restrains, he legs thrashing in opposite directions in an effort to break the tape while her wrists maneuver back and forth in hopes of achieving the same result. After a minute or two though, as she noticed that she hadn't made any progress, she then resorted to lifting up her legs and placing them next to her on the couch. It was then that she started to try to pick at the tape that bound her ankles hoping that she would finally be able to accomplish something.

While Monica uselessly attended to her restrains, Greg merely sat and watched her. It had offered a form of entertainment in a way but Greg already knew how Monica's efforts would end. Passively choosing to lay back against the couch, Greg continued to sit in silence as his mind contemplated what Calvin had just said to him. This house was the place where it all started and he had also apparently been here before. There was also the fact that Calvin told him that he had seen Monica before.

Looking back at her, he tried to study her face, trying to remember where he had seen her before, but it was hard for him to see pass the helpless look in her eyes. "You alright Monica?" Greg asked as he was concerned for her.

"No I'm not," she frantically blurted out. "I need to get out of here; I need to get out of here now! I can't let Calvin rape me again, I can't!"

"Wait, what happened?" he then asked as she caught his attention.

"That's why he came back, he wants to rape me again I just know it!"

Immediately Greg grew quiet as the unbearable thought crossed his mind, considering if Calvin would ever commit that vile act against him again. "Why would he want to do that," the investigator in him began to ask.

It was upon this question that Monica grew silent. She didn't know how to answer this question as she didn't know how much she should give away about herself. Inside, she knew why Calvin was back – to finish what he started the other nigh- but she didn't know anything about Greg and if he was the type of person who needed to be fully informed of what she knew. "How should I know?" she merely snapped back at Greg as she finally chose to play the oblivious victim in this situation.

Greg once again grew silent, only this time, it was due to his mind contemplating her snide remark. He knew he had a retort for that; he just needed to take a moment to piece his thoughts together. "Listen, you have no idea about all the shit that I've been through this past… day, hell week I don't even know how long I've been missing! Regardless though, everything I've been through, I an innocent person, everything has happened to me all for a god damn reason! I've been kicked, I've been punched, I've been burnt, I got my flesh carved off by a blade, I've been raped, and just recently, I've been shot, and the only explanation that I've received for why this is happening to me is because I'm innocent and everything happens for a reason! So, if Calvin brought me here, to your house, I can safely guarantee you that it's for a damn reason."

Hearing Greg's snide, irritable tone, instantly she was put off by it. With a scrutinizing glare, she carelessly commented, "You don't have to be an ass hole about it!"

It was the simple crude name and it was as if a wave of memories had hit him. It was almost a surprise to him that even after the countless punches to the head that he still had something to call a memory but he did, and he clearly remembered who this girl was. "You're Monica Brush," he said with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Ding-Ding-Ding, we have a winner," Calvin cleverly added as he overheard Greg. "So it turns out you are a CSI Greggo, but for your sake, let's just hope that Nick and Catherine's skills are just as sharp as yours," he continued to taunt as he began to stalk toward Greg.

Even though the mocking remark was meant for Greg, Monica heard it loud and clear and not only that, but it had caught her attention. "Wait, Catherine Willows?" she first blurted out, but as she did, both Greg and Calvin's heads snapped over to face her. As her eyes glanced over at Greg and met his eyes, with shock filling her own expression, "You're her friend that was kidnapped," she half questioned and half stated.

This was something that was unbeknownst to Calvin, that Monica had spoken to Catherine, or the fact that they had already made the connection between her rape and Greg's kidnapping. At this moment, Calvin didn't know what to do other then to leave the room and piece together his thoughts in private. Calvin's hand then reached out and he grabbed Greg's hands and yanked his body forward. Doing this though, he had severely disturbed the wound in Greg's leg and it had instantly sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Get up you piece of shit!" Calvin then screamed at Greg as he once again reached his hand forward only this time, he clasped it around Greg's arm and started to drag him toward the back door. As he approached the back door though, it was then that Mark was coming in. Simply he ushered Greg at Mark and ordered, "Take him down stairs." As Mark took hold of his precious representation, he turned back around and immediately went after Monica.

Seeing Calvin stalk toward her, Monica began to panic. Leaning against the back of her couch, she raised her legs and lashed out at Calvin as he approached her, it was quickly proven to be a futile effort of defense though for as she went to kick him, his hand swiftly grabbed hold of her bound ankles and yanked her viciously off the couch. He then continued to drag her struggling body toward her bedroom and once Monica saw this, fearing the worse, she let out an agonizing ear shattering scream.

"Now, if you move even the slightest muscle while you're on my shoulder, I'll throw you down these stairs just like I did earlier, remember, right before Calvin fucked you," threatened Mark in a loathing tone. After seeing Greg frantically nod his head, he then deftly picked up the weak man and slung his limp, pained body off his broad shoulder.

The pressure against Greg's stomach as he was draped over Mark's shoulder was undeniably discomforting. The pain from the countless beatings he had taken to his gut really amplified as all the pressure of his limp weight was being place all on his stomach and his screaming ribs. Then as Mark proceeded to walk down the stairs into the murky shed, as he took each step, his shoulder would shift back and forth as his body leveled with each stair. The pain in his stomach was borderline unbearable, but there wasn't anything that Greg could do other then to wait for the staircase to end, but then again, Greg didn't know if that was really the better alternative.

As the staircase was finally brought to its fortunate but inevitable end, Mark had then unceremoniously dropped Greg to the ground. Landing on the ruthless concrete, Greg wasn't shy to exclaim out in agony as his already mutilated body met contact with the hard floor. When he landed on the floor though, he didn't even try to control the pain, he could only submit to it and the cold floor beautifully complimented it.

Continuing to lay on the ground, Greg's eyes began to scan around his new prison. The dim light behind him barely lit the full extent of the room, but it illuminated it enough for him to see what consisted of it. A bleak atmosphere was dripping from the grimy walls and coated the whole room with a grim essence. Cobwebs hung in every corner and spider webs were woven together on every shelf. The shelves and benches held a bunch of tools while some were staked with storage containers. There was one other thing that had caught Greg's weary eyesight and that was a door that was on the opposite end of the room. Where that door led or what was on the other side of that door, he didn't know, but then again, he didn't want to find out.

Footsteps then began to resound throughout the room as they once again approached him. Greg's eyes sternly became fixed upon the cold concrete floor in front of him but then became fixed upon a pair of thick boots that firmly stood right in front of him. The boots held a firm, unmoving stance at this moment and it was then the Greg ventured to look up at the man lurking over him. Before he could even catch a good look at the sadistic grin though, a bright light flickered on over his head and immediately his eyes met with the floor again.

Though he visibly maintained a numb composure, on the inside, Greg was severely trembling. That feeling multiplied though once he saw several yards of rope drop to the floor right in front of him though. For a second, he contemplated looking up at Mark with desperate eyes that asked if he was serious, but quickly stopped himself from doing so. Greg already knew that it wasn't going to do anything except doom his spirits as he saw the twisted grin that he knew was plastered across Mark's face. The only thing he could do was clench his jaw and attempt to prepare him self for whatever was going to happen next.

Without skipping a beat, Mark knelt down beside him and roughly grabbed his bound wrists and swiftly took a knife to them and cut the tape. Once it was viciously ripped from his skin, Mark had then rolled him on his stomach and once again grabbed hold of his hands and pulled them behind his back. Crossing his wrists, Greg began to feel the nylon strings begin to bind his wrists firmly together. Although he couldn't see it, he could feel Mark tying the strings in the formation on an X, wrapping the rope both vertically and horizontally, strictly trapping them in place and removing any chance at escaping from them.

Next were his ankles. Placing his legs together in a straight fashion, Mark then began to wrap the rope tightly around his ankles and then to once again ensure that the ropes wouldn't become loose, he then maneuvered the rope between his legs and proceeded to make rope cuffs around his ankles. With his hands and legs now strictly trapped, Greg had felt completely useless.

At this point, all he wanted was to be left alone, but he knew he was a vulnerable mess at this moment, and that was just the thing that Mark enjoyed most. Then as if his thoughts were on cue, there was an agonizing pressure that exploded in his left knee and Greg wasn't shy in the least to express that pain vocally as he released a scream of pure anguish. But that did nothing.

Overwhelmed by the pain, Greg didn't exactly comprehend what exactly was going on, but when he felt Mark weaving more rope around his ankles, and once he saw the upright position that he legs were in, Greg instantly began to dread whatever Mark's plan was. A part of him desperately wanted to fight against him, but when he barely flexed a muscle in his leg, the hot pain that was sent through his knee was enough to make him subside. The only thing that he could do was lay there and attempt to bear what was to come.

Dreading the moment when Mark would finally execute his plan for binding him, that moment finally came. Feeling the rope brush against his forearm, there was then a firm pull which was then followed with a vicious pull against his shoulders. When the rope was wrapped around his wrists once again, there was an unexpected tight pull and that was when he felt his back painfully arch in an agonizingly uncomfortable position. The rope continued to wrap around both the binds on his wrists and ankles, and as all the slack in his restrains was taken up on, there was then one final taut jerk as the ropes were finally tied off. Greg could only lie there feeling pathetic and humiliated, and completely vulnerable as he submitted to the agony of his strict hogtie.

"You comfortable Greggo," Mark hissed as he yanked Greg's head back by his hair, straining his neck against his already strained body.

"N…o," Greg attempted to choke out as it was incredibly hard to speak, let alone breathe. The strain on his shoulders, ribs and back notably restricting his breathing then not to mention the swarm of agony that he felt from having his left knee forced into the position it was in. Greg desperately wanted out of his unforgiving restrains but as he heard the delighted snickering coming from his ruthless captor, he knew it wouldn't be a request he would accommodate to. Still, Greg couldn't help him self but try to appeal to this imaginary sense of humanity and sympathy in this madman before him. "Mark please… I'm sorry," Greg genuinely confessed.

The snide snicker stopped and the menacing grin left his face once he heard Greg. "You're fuckin sorry!" he snapped at him with an incredulous look on his face.

For a brief second, Greg attempted to turn his head to look at Mark so to appeal to him once again, but the strain that his neck had put on his spin was unbearable. With tears forming in his ducts again, his glazed over eyes fixed against the cold concrete floor, he began to nod his head. "Mark just please," he then exclaimed as he let out a pathetic bawl. "Please untie me. It hurts," Greg desperately begged as his wrists barely tugged against the ropes.

With a conceded scuff in his breath, he heartlessly replied, "Well that's the fuckin point."

Hearing this, Greg tried to choke back a sob, but it ended up escaping past his vocal cords regardless. "Please," he begged once again. "I can't breathe!"

"I don't think David could either, not after you shot him six times. Honestly, you have it easy. At least you're still alive, which I don't think is fuckin fair," he coldly retorted with a discerning glare fixed upon the broken man.

Letting out a weak whimper, he tried to struggle against his restrains to show his discomfort, but it caused something much more painful then that. Once again, pulling against the ties that had attached his wrists to his legs, he had moved and viciously disturbed his leg and there wasn't anything that Greg could do to lessen this pain. At first, he tried to grit his teeth in an effort to hold his pride and excuse the pain, but when it wasn't enough to suffice he let out another agonizing scream. Putting words to his agony though, he released the most simple yet desperately plea that he knew. "Please!" was all he simply yelled.

Mark already despised the piece of scum that was helplessly lying on the floor, but hearing him consistently beg, it was all too easily loosing its thrill. His eyes quickly glanced over at the table where he had retrieved the rope and remembered seeing an old black scarf. Heading toward the tale, he grabbed the scarf and as he picked it up, there was a layer of dust that had fallen from it and as a reaction shook it so to get off the extra remains of the filthy residue. Walking back over to Greg, he knelt down next to him and extending the length of the scarf in his two hands and held it right by his mouth. "Open up," he sternly ordered.

Though he had frequently given into abiding his two captors, there was something that seemed far too degrading about allowing Mark to gag him. Regretfully but proudly, he clamped his lips shut and shook his head no.

"I said, open up!" Mark then shouted, fury clearly becoming evident in his voice, but seeing Greg disobey him yet again, it was resistance that Mark wasn't going to tolerate any longer. "Fine," he simply scuffed. "You think that's going to stop me?" he then cleverly quipped. "You don't want to open your mouth; then I'll make you." After that, all Mark had to do was clasp his hand around Greg's roots like he had done before, and with a simple pull against his roots, he merely stretched Greg's head backwards.

Instantly, Greg began to shout out in pain as the strain being put again his neck was agonizing. After hearing this, Mark knew that he had Greg right in the position that he wanted him, figuratively and literally. "Hurt's doesn't it?" he snidely mocked. "So you're gonna open your mouth for me okay, and you know exactly what I'm going to do with that scarf and there is nothing that you can do about it," he firstly commented, but looking into Greg's eyes he could see that there was still a glint of doubt and Mark had absolutely no problem with correcting that. "But see, if you don't open your mouth, I have an extra strand of rope over there on that table and in seconds I can put together a hangman's noose and I'll put it around your neck and make sure that your head stay's just like this."

After Mark had made this simple threat, the glint of doubt in Greg's eyes was easily overcome by the reality of defeat. As Mark released his hold on Greg's roots, he didn't even need to ask Greg to open his mouth as his jaw was already open. Taking hold of the cloth again, he maneuvered it in between Greg's teeth and wrapped it around twice before tightly tying it off making for a simple yet effective cleave gag.

Without another word, Mark then stood back up and turned off the two lonely lights that hung in the shed. The light outside that came threw the door still managed to filter a small amount of light into the room below the earth but as Mark made his way up the stairs, closed the door behind him and locked it in place, Greg was finally left alone again and completely consumed in darkness.

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And now you know what has happened to our Greggo… if you guys find the time you should look up some information about kneecapping. It actually really interesting and apparently is said to be the most painful place where you can be shot. I used that information when I was writing Greg's flashback scene and I really hope that I got the emotion down as best as I could.

Anyway, my question for my readers. Well first off… SPOILER ALERT! In the next chapter or two, Greg's fate will be in Monica's hands. I wanna know how you guys interpret this piece of information. Just what's going through you mind? As always, I would LLLLLOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE to know!

For alerting, thank you to Tella87 and C.H.W.13

For favoriting, thank you to AngelofMusic13 (I don't know if your screen name is based off Phantom of the Opera but I LOVE that musical and the music is fantastic!), C.H.W.13, and Tracy79.

And for reviewing, thank you to VisionX23, CSI001, Rachel McBride, crimescenelover, Greggo-123, JodsRaine (4x… and Love seeing you back as well :D), Tracy79, and C.H.W.13! God you guys, everyones reviews just kept on getting better and better. I really want to just thank everyone these past few chapters that reviewed as it was great to see you all so engaged! I loved every guess that everyone made and it was really fun to see who was spot on (as a some of you were :D!) and whose guesses were just a little off ha ha. Still, I really appreciate the effort and it makes me feel great to see how engaged everyone is with my story :D!

Alright, so now I am off to leave those reviews for the people who have reviewed :D! As I said before, there is one for just about everyone who left a review the last two chapters and once again, to everyone I really want to thank you so much for being so engaged in my story. You guys hands down are my biggest support system!

**Chapter 25 Review Replies:**

CJaMes12: Hey I just want to say thank you again for the recommendation to change the 8 bullets to the 6 bullets. It was a great and really helpful piece of advice. I really like things to be as accurate as possible and with just this little piece of information, it really helped :D!

Tracy/Tracy79: **Chapter 25 Review:** I loved what you said about holding your breath so many times you felt dizzy. It made me laugh but I also found it as a compliment. There have been fanfics that I have read where the same thing happens to me and I love seeing the same response come from a reader and having it be directed toward my story :D! Anyway, I also really loved your reasoning for why you thought Calvin didn't shoot Greg… it was very logical :D! **Chapter 26 Review:** I'm happy you finally made an account :D! Also, isn't it the coolest feeling when you guess something correctly in a story! You guessed that Calvin shot Greg in the leg and not only that, but you basically quoted that bastard that shot him ha ha! Thanks so much for reviewing and I'm glad to see you so engaged in my story :D!

VisionX23: **Chapter 25 Review:** I loved the input that you gave about how you couldn't see Calvin shooting Greg on a whim of anger. It was a great prediction and also something that was very in-character for Calvin. Though now you know, Calvin decided to go a bit off course ha ha. I hope you still enjoyed the results though :D! Thanks for reviewing, not only for this chapter but basically everyone. I love that your one of my followers! Thanks for the support :)! **Chapter 26 Review: **I'm sorry to inform you VisionX23, but Greg is still going to be missing for a while longer, hell he may never be found…. No I would give out a spoiler like that, but I'll say that Nick and Catherine won't be finding Greg in the next few chapters. Calvin still isn't done with him. The grand finale torture scene… that will be coming up soon which will be the point where Greg will find himself very close to the end. What the "end" means though, I can't define… whether it's the end of his ordeal or his life, that will be something for you to find out. But hey, you keep hoping that they will find him soon because you have been hoping that since like what, chapter…. Actually I just went back and looked… you started saying it chapter 14 ha ha… and 13 chapters later and they still haven't found Greg… Nick ALMOST did, but I… I mean Calvin just had to ruin it all didn't he ha ha. Anyway, I hope your still enjoying the story, even though Greg hasn't been found yet ha ha :D!

LovingYourWork: God I love it when you leave your reviews. I know your not one to review every chapter so when ever I get one from you they are always a treat, especially because they are always so lengthy and thought out! I loved the list by the way. Turns out you were right… you just would have gotten brownie points if you guessed where Greg didn't get fatally shot ha ha. I'm also glad that you enjoyed the escape chapter as much as you expressed to have loved it! I worked really hard on it and had fun writing it and I was really excited to see what everyone was going to think of it. I'm glad to see it got such positive feedback and thank you so much for expressing your enjoyment of it. It really meant a lot and I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much!

WMG: GIRL I FRICKIN LOVE YOU! YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON TO COMPLETELY GUESS THE CORRECT ANSWER! YES, I KNEECAPPED GREG! HOW TERRIBLE AM I! I like freaked out when you guessed correctly as I was all like, "Oh WMG… you and I, I swear share the same angsttacular suspense obsessed mind and I could not be happier that you guessed it first!" I'm not lying… I really said that ha ha. Anyway, so yeah, you remember when I sent you a private message a while back saying something like I couldn't wait for you and Raine to read the escape chapter because I couldn't wait to see how my awesome amigos would respond… well were you all in all pleased OR WAS IT THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT LIKE THAT "KISS" THAT GREG HAD WITH ELLEN IN A KISS BEFORE FRYING! OH WAIT…. WHAT FRICKIN KISS! HA HA… oh god I can't wait till you read this :D!

Ilovemiax: HOW COULDN'T I LEAVE WITH A CLIFFHANGER! I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of it though in the end.

Abby: Well…. Calvin didn't shoot Mark, but you are kinda sorta semi right in a way. Like at least Calvin recognizes that Mark seems completely unstable now and threatened to kill him if he kills Greg. Also thank you so much for guessing that as after reading your review, it helped me write the dialogue between Calvin and Mark in this chapter. Originally Mark had already seemed to brush David's death off of his shoulder like he had already gotten over it, but now I think his emotions are where they're supposed to be. It's nothing that needs to be super focused on though, we know what's happened and this is Greg's story. But thank you so much for your review as not only was it appreciated but it was a huge help :D!

CSI001: TRUST ME… everyone's reaction when they find Greg… it will NOT be one to disappoint. The scene that they will find will already be gruesome enough, but what of Greg… well like how you can't wait to see the characters reactions, I can't wait to see your reaction! Also, you might wanna take a look at the reply I wrote for VisionX23 for chapter 26, cause your replies are kinda conjoined in a way. But anyways, thanks so much for the reviews and I'm also happy you enjoyed my not-so-filler filler chapter :D!

Rachael McBride: Well this is the first review that I have received from you and after reading what you said, I really hope that I'll be able to hear from you soon. The ending I already have formulated in my mind and I can assure you that it will be nothing short of sad and filled with despair that will leave you holding your breath to a point where you just might suffocate and then you'll never know how the story ends! Ha ha, but trust me, I won't disappoint with this ending that you would love to see… and now I can't wait to find out what your going to think about it! Anyway, I hope to hear from you again and thank you so much for leaving your review :D!

Raine: HURRAY RAINE! YOU'RE BACK… AND YOU BROUGHT REVIEWS WITH YOU… and I believe Greg owes you one cyber-hug… I hope you've received it by now… if you haven't… well… he is a little… tied up at the moment BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! OH MY GOD! I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PITCH THAT LINE BEFORE! I AM SORRY BUT I AM JUST LMFAO RIGHT NOW HAHAHAHA! Anyway, thanks for the review and congratulations, you have received The Adoring Award for The Most Off Course/What The Hell Were You On When You Were Thinking That award! Ha ha ha… no I kid, but you were just a tad off ha ha. But hey, A for effort and you did say that you weretaking on a different take and not only that, you said nevermind so technically excused the idea, but hey if your failure at being original doesn't make you feel better, may I remind you that back in chapters 8/9/10 you caught on to the fact that Calvin was the bad guy and not Caleb :D! Anyway, thanks for reviewing all the chapters that you missed and all and thanks for the reviews in general :D!

C.H.W.13: Hey first time reviewer of my story! Well introducing myself, I am the twisted writer of this story LeggoMyGreggo411 :D! Thank you for the complement saying that my story is amazing. It really is very flattering to hear that. Also thank you for the guess, and hey you were pretty close… just a foot or two in the wrong direction but hey, arm, kneecap… apples and oranges…. Or maybe not…. You could still escape with just a bullet in your arm…. Ah whatevo :)! Also, there is definitely more action to come. The grand finale torture scene, it will be nothing short of gruesome! There of course will continue to be huge plot twists and I hope this chapter offered a bit of a plot twist as well… will Calvin returning to Monica's house and all :D! As for your suggestion on an ending, well for one, I'm not a huge fan of memory lose stories. I also don't think I would be that good at writing one but thank you for the suggestion. Also, all the puzzle pieces will fit together very soon and most of the work will be coming from the CSI's. And two, the ending that I have planed, well if you're a fan of angst and heart pulsing suspense, then my ending will NOT disappoint! I'm really excited to get it written and all and I can't wait to hear about what you'll think of it :D! Thanks again for the review and I hope to hear from you again!

I hope you all enjoyed me reviewing your reviews ha ha. I actually ended up having a lot of fun writing them so I hope you all ended them as well :D! So yeah other then that, till the next chapter. Please let me know what you guys though of this chapter, cause as I said, it's has been one of my top favorite to write :D!


	28. Friday June 11th, 2004 07:34 AM

Alright everyone… this has been the most excruciating writers block that I have EVER had in my life! Like for the life of me, I just could not write! I couldn't organize my thoughts, I couldn't organize my events, I couldn't write a single word without it sounding like crap… I just couldn't write a damn thing!

But FINALLY… I got my thoughts organized! And with saying that, I was finally able to write chapter 28. This chapter is entirely a flash back and it's basically the entire display of events that lead to Aaron's imprisonment. This is just the first part of it though, the second part will be chapter 29, and then after that, the story will continue along very nicely. So yeah, I hope you all enjoy chapter 28 :D!

Small note: The title is the actual time that this chapter starts… just an FYI.

* * *

**Chapter 28: Friday June 11th, 2004 07:34 AM**

_Dispatcher: 911; what is your emergency?_

_Cory Wilson: My girlfriend is tied up in her home!_

_Dispatcher: How do you know this sir?_

_Cory Wilson: I'm standing outside of her house looking in her bedroom window and can see her. She's been tied spread-eagle to her bed and she's crying._

_Dispatcher: What are you doing at her house sir?_

_Cory Wilson: I'm her boyfriend and I came to pick her up for school._

_Dispatcher: And how did you find her?_

_Cory Wilson: She wouldn't answer the door or her phone so I went to look in her room and then I found her._

_Dispatcher: Do you know if her attacker is still in the house with her?_

_Cory Wilson: I don't know! I don't know okay! Look, are you going to send the cops or an ambulance or something? She looks really scared and I don't know how to get into her house to help her or what._

_Dispatcher: Sir, do not go into that house! We don't know if there is anyone still in that house and we don't need anything happening to you alright._

_Cory Wilson: Well then you need to send someone to help her right now! I mean she looks really scared._

_Dispatcher: We'll send someone down there right now. Do you have her address?_

_Cory Wilson: She lives on Copper Street in Henderson, house 545._

_Dispatcher: Alright sir, I want you to stay there and watch over her. I can stay on the line with you till the police and paramedics arrive if you'd like._

_Cory Wilson: Yeah sure. How long until they're here?"_

_Dispatcher: They're on their way now and should be there in a few minutes alright._

_Cory Wilson: Thank you._

* * *

_Since the call had been issued, it had taken about 10 minutes before the officers and paramedics had arrived at the house in Henderson. As they entered the home, the officers quickly and efficiently scoped out the house, but upon finding no signs of the supposed intruder, they allowed the paramedics into the house. Being told that distressed woman that was bound to her bed was at the end of the hallway to their left, that was exactly where they went and there lying before them was the distressed young woman. _

_Other then the fact that she was stripped of her clothes and her dignity, she seemed to be fine, and therefore, a perfect specimen for the Las Vegas Crime Lab to perform their duties. A phone call later, CSI Supervisor Gil Grissom was on his way to the crime scene. _

_Pulling into the trailer park, he approached the house that was surrounded with police cars and an ambulance and joined the group of vehicles as he parked his SUV into place. Dispersing from his car and grabbing his field kit, he made his way into the house that was his new crime scene. Being guided down the hallway that was to his left, he entered the room that held his –for once- breathing victim. _

"_Please, just get me out of here please!" a young woman continued to plead to the paramedics that were surrounding her and were trying their best to keep her calm. _

"_Ms. Brush," Grissom politely asked, referring to the victim by the name that he had been addressed. She didn't say anything though. She only nodded her head. With her silence continuing with any sign from her that she was going to speak, Grissom took to the responsibility of addressing his presence. "I want to thank you for waiting as I know you want to get out of this. I'm going to free though alright," he kindly and calmly announced. _

"_Why couldn't they free me? Why did I have to wait for you?" she unexpectedly and viciously snapped. _

"_I'm a CSI… crime scene investigator," he graciously explained. "Who ever did this to you, I'm here to find out whom."_

"_But I already know who did this to me," she then announced._

_Instantly, Grissom's brow furrowed as he eyes narrowed in confusion. It wasn't often that their victim was alive, but what was even rarer was when their victim knew who committed the act. "You do?" was all he could simply say with a well-spoken yet subtle look of surprise in his expression. _

"_His name is Aaron Richards," she answered with only a smug expression in her eyes; nothing more. _

"_Why would he do this to you?" Grissom asked; a typical question any investigator would ask. _

"_I don't know," she firstly suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. "His been stalking me for the past few weeks though," she then informed. _

"_Has he?" he simply answered in a respectful, understanding manner. _

"_No, I'm making it up," she once again viciously snapped in an arrogant, sarcastic way. "Look can you please get me out of here!" she then desperately begged as she painfully tugged her wrists that were still held by the binds. _

"_Of course," Grissom assured as he took out a pair of latex gloves and scissors from his field kit. Once he put on the gloves, he then took the scissors and deftly cut the tape from her wrists. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions for us once I get this tape off you?" Grissom asked, though not breaking his attention from his task at hand. _

"_Like what?" she questioned purely out of curiosity. _

"_Well we'll need a statement from you regarding the events that transpired with your attacker and any other questions that we might have regarding what happened," he simply answered._

"_Yeah sure," she replied with a disturbed grimace on her face; a look that clearly implied that her mind was replaying the events that she had experienced against her will. _

_Grissom continued to remove the tape that had bound all four of her limbs, and as he worked on freeing her final limb, Nick had finally arrived at the crime scene and had made his way into their victim's room. "Alright Ms. Brush, I'm going to have you go with this gentleman right here and he's going to take you out to the ambulance that's waiting outside for you okay."_

_Hearing Grissom's order, Nick took a step forward and approached the young woman. Watching her sit up, Nick wasn't shy to notice that she had winched and clutched her arm around the lower part of her stomach. Excusing his current assumption of the tragedy that she had endured, he graciously offered his hand to her as he kindly introduced himself. "My name is Nick Stokes," he said with a warm gleam in his eyes. Gently grasping his hand and offering her name in return, "Monica," she simply replied with a very subtle, almost invisible smile. _

_Taking hold of a blanket that one of the paramedics had offered him, Nick rightfully draped the warm cotton off the girl's shoulders and began to lead her out of her room. Before he left the room though, the voice of his supervisor had stopped him. "Hey Nick, Greg's going to be here in a few minutes alright. He's going to be observing us while we work the case for his field training. Outside, her boyfriend is waiting and is the one that found her; I want you to question him and I want Greg to be there with you. He doesn't ask any questions though."_

"_Sure Grissom," he agreed before he turned to make his way out of Monica's bedroom. The two of them then made their way out to the ambulance that was waiting for the young woman and Nick protectively led her to the gurney that had been set up for her. _

"_Alright, just take a seat here," Nick simply instructed as he ushered Monica onto the gurney. "So this ambulance is going to take you down to Desert Palm alright and the nurses there are going to take very good care of you. I'll be back later though to ask you a couple of questions regarding what happened okay."_

"_He's not going to find me there, is he?" Monica cautiously asked with a feared look in her eyes._

"_Who?" Nick asked, not understanding what she meant but didn't ignore the fact that he could gain a critical piece of information for this investigation. _

"_Aaron Richards," she firstly stated, but her continuing statement put a flash of shock into Nick's eyes. "He was the one who raped me."_

_Nick was surprised to hear what had happened to this poor girl, but as much as he wanted to voice his shock and surprise, he kept to the professionalism of the moment and merely offered Monica what comfort he could. "Monica, I can guarantee you that Aaron will never be able to hurt you again."_

_With a small smile in here eyes and a timid but grateful voice, Monica looked to Nick before she was loaded into the ambulance and said, "Thank you."_

_Once the ambulance doors shut, the large vehicle had then pulled out of the small drive way and began heading toward Desert Palm Hospital. As the ambulance pulled out though, it was then that Greg had pulled into the driveway and had dispersed from his silver Volkswagen Passat. _

"_It's great for you to join us Wannabe CSI Sanders," Nick jokingly called out as he saw Greg walking up to him. "You know I think it's great that you want to become a CSI and all, but please tell me that you're still going to be running the DNA on this case. I really could give a damn if the guy on days has seven years of experience in DNA, I still don't trust his work."_

"_Is that just an ass hole way of saying that you're going to miss me being in the DNA lab?" Greg mused with a playful voice while batting his puppy dog eyes. _

"_What I'm going to miss is having my stuff moved to the top of the pile," Nick quickly quipped. "The real question is though: Are you going to miss being in the DNA lab?"_

"_Psh," he first scuffed at the almost comical comment. "You're joking right? I can't wait to get out of there. I wanna be on the other side of beaker; catch the bad guys and stuff."_

"_Being on the other side of the beaker means collecting evidence, such as blood," Nick mused with a raised eyebrow that implied that he was suggesting something further beyond the mere task of collecting evidence. "Remember when you saw your first "pre-collection" blood?" he then asked with an almost skeptical tone to his voice as he painfully reminded Greg of his first experience with being out in the field and with that, his embarrassing mishap with the very experience._

_Instantly, Greg's eyes narrowed, but not in an expression of anger. "For one," he firstly offered with confidence in his voice, "I've been out in the field since then. And two, due to that little… incident that happened two years ago, I now know what "pre-collection" blood looks like," he proudly offered, though it was more so a ploy to hide his embarrassment as he painfully reminisced on that very mess up that occurred. _

_After hearing Greg's clever cover up for the events that did take place two years ago, Nick couldn't help but offer a simple laugh. "Well lucky for you, I don't think we're going to find any blood, and if we do, it won't be unexpectedly pouring out of some guy's mouth," he then humorously said with an encouraging smile. _

_At that moment, both he and Nick couldn't help but share in the laugh, but Greg still couldn't help but cringe at that memory. Quickly putting it behind him though and carrying on with the current moment at hand, he then directed their attention to the crime scene at hand. "So what do we got?"_

"_Apparently we have a 426," Nick announced, but quickly saw an opportunity to thrown in a pop-quiz for the CSI in training and continued his response with a question of his own. "And a 426 is a…"_

"_426… I believe… is a... rape," Greg replied with a weakened confidence as he wasn't fully sure that this was the answer._

"_That's right, but next time, answer with more confidence. It's fine if you're wrong Greg; you're a CSI in training and its how you learn," Nick offered Greg with an encouraging voice. "Anyway, I just sent our victim to Desert Palm right now. Her name is Monica Brush and she has claimed that a man by the name of Aaron Richards has raped her. That was all I got but I'm going to go to the hospital later to get her full statement."_

"_So what do we do until we go to the hospital?" Greg asked, not exactly knowing what the next step in their process is. _

"_What do you think we should do?" Nick then unexpectedly asked, though keeping to his instructions to test Greg on what he already knew so to see exactly how much he knew. _

"_Well," he started to say, but after a second to contemplate Nick's question, he then offered his thoughts on what they should do. "You guys usually start off with questioning people; who is there to question?"_

"_Very nice Greg," Nick encouraged with a subtle smile that showed he was impressed. "Grissom wants me to question the boyfriend as he was the one who found Monica and he wants you to be there to listen and take notes. He doesn't want you to ask any questions though, alright. It's not that we don't have faith in you, it's just that you're observing right now." _

"_Sounds good," Greg announced with a pleased grin. _

_It was then that Nick and Greg had made their way over to a young man that was standing off to the side of the house. He had been identified to either of them, but by his age and the panicked expression of his face, it was a safe assumption that he was most likely the boyfriend that had found Monica. "Excuse me," Nick asked, getting the attention of the young man. "Are you the one who found Monica?"_

"_Yes, I'm her boyfriend, Cory," he introduced._

"_Hi Cory, I'm CSI Nick Stokes and this is Greg Sanders. We're just going to ask you a few questions regarding what happened to Monica alright," Nick humbly informed. _

"_She's okay, right?" Cory then asked, not answering the question that he had been asked but choosing to focus on the unimaginable sight that he had just seen. _

"_She's going to be fine. The hospital is going to take good care of her," he proceeded to offer with an optimistic but concerned smile. _

"_When will I be able to see here?" he then asked, once again practically ignoring the two men standing before him.  
_

"_I'm not sure right now, but Cory, I need you to focus here. The questions that we ask you, they're going to help us out in our investigation."_

"_How can I frickin help? I just found her okay!" he finally snapped back at Nick with an annoyed expression in his eyes. _

"_Then these are going to be really easy questions to answer alright," he answered, annoyance growing in his own expression as he proceeded to deal with the stubborn teen. _

"_Do we have to do this now?" Cory then asked with a lazy voice and a irritable smirk that played on the corner of his lip. _

"_Yes," Nick finally snapped with a stern, nonnegotiable expression on his face. "At what time did you find Monica?" he asked, immediately choosing to get right into the questioning.  
_

_Cory was silent for a minute, but after scrutinizing the two men before him, with a scuff and a sigh, he finally began to answer Nick's questions. "I found her just past 7:30."_

"_How did you find her?"_

"_Tied to her bed," he answered, though with an incredulous look on his face as he was realized that he was being asked questions that he knew weren't going to do a damn thing to help Monica. _

"_Sorry, I meant like how did you come to find her tied to her bed?"_

"_Well I pick her up for school every morning and this morning, when I called her to come outside, she didn't answer her phone. I then tried knocking on the door but when I still didn't get an answer from her, I then went around into her backyard and looked inside her window to see if she was there. That's when I found her and that's when I called 911."_

"_Do you know of any enemy's that she's had or of anyone that would want to hurt her?"_

"_Well she told me about this one guy, Aaron Richards. Apparently he's been stalking her for the past few weeks or something."_

"_Do you know if she reported him?"  
_

"_She was going to wait until her dad got back from his business trip in Massachusetts. He's supposed to be back on Monday."  
_

"_Why did she want to wait till he got back?" Nick then asked though with a stern, skeptical look in his narrow eyes. "Look, if someone has some creeper stalking them, they're going to take care of the problem as soon as possible. What about her mom, why couldn't she help her?"_

"_Well for one, her parents are divorced and her mom lives in Chicago. And secondly, she honestly didn't know what to do. I tried to tell her the same thing that she needed to go to the cops but she didn't want to. She said that she never felt threatened by him and figured that the problem would quickly solve it's self once her father handled it."_

"_Well clearly the problem didn't solve its self; it just got bigger," Nick bitterly mused. "So she was home, completely alone last night then?"_

"_Except for the bastard who attacker her, yeah, she was home alone," he replied back with a sour tone._

_Upon hearing the young mans response, Nick's eyebrow raised as a very skeptical look came across his face. "How long have the two of you been dating?" he asked in a prying manner. _

_Cory was silent for a moment as he studied the reaction that was on Nick's face when he had asked this question. "Almost two years," he cautiously answered, but then followed his answer with a question of his own. "Why does that matter?"_

"_It's just that you've been in a relationship for two years and your girlfriend has the house all to herself," Nick firstly reasoned. "I just personally find it hard to believe that you weren't at her house last night sleeping over."_

"_What are you trying to say?" Cory then asked, catching on to the underline meaning by what Nick was saying. _

"_It's just that when I was your age and when my girlfriends parents were out of town, I made sure that I was there every night to "sleep over"," Nick stated with a knowing glance at the boy. "But you and I know that there wasn't much sleep involved with those types of sleepovers."_

"_Yeah I catch your drift alright," Cory finally snapped back. "And trust me, we try to have those sleepovers, but they usually only happen when ever I can convince my mom to let me stay over at "Tyler's" house," he informed with a snide smirk on his face. "Listen, long story short, my mom is that over baring kind with a stick up her ass and won't let her senior son do what ever the hell he wants."_

"_Guess you weren't much for sneaking out either," Nick then quipped._

"_Yeah, I don't really have the best car for that? You start it up and the muffler will wake up the whole neighborhood," he once again informed as a bitter retort to their accusation. _

_After hearing yet another reason to contradict the point and accusation that he was making, Nick finally let out a laugh. Finally choosing to accept the story that was being told, he jokingly put his hands up as he surrendered to the conversation and simply chuckled out, "Alright, alright so you weren't here last night."_

"_Thank you for finally believing me," Cory arrogantly commented choosing not to fall into the pathetic attempt to find humor in this situation. _

"_Look," Nick then said with a serious expression in his eyes after hearing the sourness in Cory's voice. "Right now we need to consider every possibility in the situation. We're merely questioning you to see what you can offer us but to also clear you as a suspect."_

"_Well have I been cleared yet?" _

"_We'll actually need to contact your mom to verify your alibi; that you were at home sleeping."_

"_Go ahead, I have nothing to hide," he once again bitterly stated. "Can I go to the hospital now and wait for Monica?" he proceeded to ask, choosing to dismiss himself from this pointless conversation. _

"_I don't care," Nick then bitterly snapped at the teenage brat. As the conversation between the two of them ended, Nick immediately went back over to his Tahoe to grab his field kit. _

"_You know, I know the kid was kind of a jerk, but I kind of feel bad for him," Greg simply stated as he met Nick over at his Tahoe._

"_Yeah, I guess. I mean it does suck that you have to find your girlfriend like that and not know what happened to her. The kid could have cooperated more instead of being a dick the whole time though. It wouldn't have killed him."_

"_So wait, he doesn't know that she was raped, right?"_

"_No he doesn't, but we can't release that information to him. He's not a family member. Hopefully Brass will be able to get a hold of her father so that he can get down here."_

"_It must suck being alone in this situation," Greg expressed with sorrow in his voice as he though about Monica and having to go through this traumatic ordeal as on her own. _

"_I'd imagine that it would suck being alone in any situation where you're a victim," Nick then suggested with the same sorrow on his face. "Anyway, I'm gonna tell Brass to call Monica's father to get him down here and then we'll head in continue to process the house with Grissom."_

"_Alright," Greg agreed. "I have a question though? When do we find the bad guy?"_

"_First off, stop calling them the bad guy like you're playing cops and robbers. You're maturing to a CSI now so they're called the perpetrator. Secondly, going through the house is more so for gathering evidence for court that is going to help us convict the son-bitch. We might find something though that could point us in the direction of the perp though to help us find him."_

"_It sounds like a complex process."_

"_I think that it'd be more fun then pushing buttons on the GCMS all day."_

"_Why do you think I want to start catching the bad guys… excuse me… the perpetrators?"  
_

"_Let's just get inside and start helping Grissom. The faster we clear the scene the fast we can get to the lab so that you can play with your beakers and test tubes."  
_

"_And don't forget about the GCMS."_

* * *

_Another day after finishing his two work shifts, Aaron was looking forward to heading home to spend some time with the love of his life. As he pulled onto Copper St. though, his eye was painfully drawn toward one of the houses that had been surrounded with police cars and crime scene tape. Proceeding to approach the house though, Aaron began to grow worried, seeing that the house with the incident was dangerously close to his girlfriends house, but once he finally pulled up to Monica's house, his worst fears had been discovered. _

_Putting his car into park without even the consideration to turn off his car, he threw open his door and immediately got out and ran over toward his home. Ignoring the barrier of the flimsy, yellow crime scene tape, he ducked beneath it and ran over to the first person that he saw - a young man who looked no old then he was that was loading something into the back of a black Tahoe. "Hey, what the hell is going on?" he frantically yelled with desperate eyes. _

_Greg stood there for a moment, frozen by the sudden alarm in the man's voice and the fact that someone was confronting him, the humble lab tech, the unknowledgeable wanna-be CSI. "Excuse me?" he simply offered as a response before his eyes started to look around for a real CSI that could offer a real means of assistance. _

"_What the hell is going on? This is my house!" he yelled back again with the same desperate and fear stricken look in his eyes. _

"_I'm sorry sir, but this is Monica Brush's house," Greg informed as it was the only way he figured he could answer the man. _

_Making his way out of the house, the sight that was set before him put Nick in a mild panic. Running over to Greg who was struggling with talking to this mystery, distressed looking man, Nick immediately took the reins that Greg all too willingly handed over. "Sir you're going to need to take a step back behind the crime scene tape. It's up for a reason sir and you're not supposed to cross it," Nick informed with a stern voice as he started to usher the man away from Greg. _

"_But this is my house! I live here with my girlfriend!" he continued to shout back in protest to the order he had been forcibly given. _

"_Can I have you're name sir," Nick then asked, wanting the information for the record, but also to redirect the possibility of the lost man as he considered if he was just drawn to the house because of the commotion rather then it actually being his house. _

"_I'm Aaron Richards and I live with my girlfriend Monica Brush!" he quickly answered but then asked the question that was festering with his conscience. "Is she alright?"_

_The second after he heard the man's name, Nick's mind froze. It was almost incomprehensible for him to consider if their suspect really just waltzed up to their crime scene and was practically turning himself over to them. He had found out that Aaron was apparently stalking Monica and the first though that crossed his mind was if he was officially a delusional nutcase, but then again, it would explain why he returned to the crime scene. _

_Taking special care of this situation, Nick displayed a persona of a concerning detective as he nurtured the man's display of paranoia. "Monica is just fine right now and is getting taken very good care of. While she's getting taken care of though, how about you head down to the station and I'll meet you there and you and I can talk about what happened."_

"_Yeah sure," he instantly agreed and then proceeded to follow the man over to a waiting officer. _

"_Hey Mitch," Nick called out. "This is Aaron Richards and he's agreed to head down to the station so I want you to take very good care of him alright," he informed him with a knowledgeable glance. Then with a subtle nod to confirm that he understood what he needed to do, Mitch got into the police car as Aaron got into the back seat and the two of them began to drive away to the station. _

_Immediately, Nick couldn't think of anyone else to call other then Brass. "Hey Jim, its Nick," he introduced. "Listen, you're not going to believe this but we just apprehended Aaron Richards. He came by the house looking for Monica and looked pretty surprised to see us there. Anyway, I told him that he should wait at the station and then we'd tell him what happened to Monica. Mitch is bringing him there now."_

_After he had explained what had happened though, there was just silence, and almost for a good minute before Brass replied to the unbelievable occurrence of events. "You're joking," was all the said, skepticism thick in his voice. _

"_Either this guy is an idiot or completely delusional but he just walked up to the house and told us his name and agreed to go down to the station. I don't want you to question him yet though. Take him to the interrogation room and tell him that I'll be there soon alright. This could be a very delicate situation and I don't want to risk losing our confession alright."_

"_You got it Nick," Brass agreed, but before he hung up the phone, he couldn't help but applaud the CSI's remarkable police work. "And Nick; great job today."_

_Hanging up the phone with a confident smile on his face, he then made his way back over to Greg who was still standing by his Tahoe. "Nick I'm so sorry I panicked and I didn't know what to do," Greg immediately blurted out as Nick made his way over to him. _

"_Its fine Greg," Nick simply informed. "This was actually one circumstance that worked to our advantage. That man was Aaron Richards."_

"_The guy that raped Monica?" Greg said with an incredulous expression on his face. _

"_Yeah," he replied once again, shaking his head to complement this unbelievable situation. "Well I'm going to go and tell Grissom and then we could all head down to the lab alright. You can start processing the evidence and I'll be able to question our suspect and perpetrator," he offered with a confident smile._

"I'll meet you back at the station then," Greg then announced as he started making his way over to his car.

* * *

So that is chapter 28. I hope you all enjoyed it. This is the first part of the flashback so the second part is chapter 29 and you guys should have to wait to long for that one. I've been making a lot of progress lately as I finally have all of my events organized and such.

So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 28.

Now to thank my readers:

For alerting, thank you to greggo123, Sun Raider, and IcyBreeze7.

For adding TPMG to their favorites list, thank you to IcyBreeze7, CSIFAN11, and Chrissi Khris.

And finally, for all the reviews, a thank you to VisionX23, CSI001, C.H.W.13, JodsRaine, crimescenelover, Abby, csifreak1234, , Tracy79, WMG, and Your editor and MuscLver101 (Nicole).

So yeah, chapter 28 and once again, I am so sorry guys about the wait for this chapter as I know it sucks when you have to wait for more then a month for a new chapter on a fanfic story that you have been following. I also hate it when I keep you guys waiting… and trust me… I feel REALLY guilty about it. But anyway, there you have it and I'll try my best to keep updates regular again as there aren't that many chapters left of this story and I don't want to carry it out for a long time.

Anyway, adios until chapter 29 :D!


	29. Defending the Innocent

Hey my awesome sauce readers :D! Sorry if the last chapter was a little blah, it's just that I had gone so long without an update I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer so I posted the short, not so super exciting chapter 28. Anyway, chapter 29 you guys should enjoy a lot more. There's lots of dialogue, some interrogations, past season trivia, and Greg as an adorable CSI wannabe/newbie… OH HOW CUTE :D!

I also wanna apologize for forgetting to put the thanks and appreciation thing… don't worry, I remembered this time and I went back and added them as well :D!

So yeah, here is chapter 29 for you. I hope I didn't keep to waiting too long for this one either. It's a bit long but it should go by fast with all the dialogue. Anyways, enjoy :D!

* * *

_**Chapter 29: Defending the Innocent**_

"_Finally someone can answer some questions for me. No one has told me a god damn thing since I've been here," Aaron moaned out once he saw the familiar face of the man who sent him to the station who was also being followed in by a detective who looked like he belonged in the mafia. _

"_Actually Aaron, were here so that you can answer a few questions for us," Nick simply answered as he and Brass took a seat across the table from Aaron. "I'm Nick Stokes and this is Captain Brass; were her to talk to you about what happened to Monica last night as what you may have to offer us could help us in our investigation," Nick informed in a stern but non-threatening way. _

"_What happened to Monica," Aaron harshly demanded to know finding it frustrating that he still has not been given one single answer regarding the love of his life or her well being._

"_We'll get to that in a moment alright Aaron," Nick calmly assured the uneasy man. "Right now though, we need to focus on who did this to her."_

_With Nick's response, Aaron could sense the incentive behind his comment. The way that he had said this statement, it was accusing in the slightest way, but he still wasn't oblivious to the underline meaning of his words. "Am I a suspect?" he then asked with innocent eyes and a voice that carried a tone of worry._

"_Everyone is a suspect until we prove that they're innocent," Brass merely explained with an emotionally unfazed glare. _

"_You could actually help us eliminate you as a suspect though if you would be willing to give us a sample of your DNA," Nick humbly asked, though in a casual and passive way so not to raise suspicion in their lead suspect._

"_Whatever helps to find the bastard that hurt Monica," he cursed through gritted and a hurt glaze in his eye, as if showing that the monster that had hurt Monica had hurt him too. _

_Taking out a buccal swab from his kit, Nick took off the orange cap and quickly swabbed the inside of Aaron's mouth, simply yet thoroughly collecting his DNA. Snapping the cap back on, he had then placed the swab back in his kit and then returned to the conversation at hand. "So, getting back to it, can you tell us everything that you did yesterday?"_

_It was a this question that Aaron started to grow a bit concerned, seeming that he didn't exactly see the relevance of this question. Choosing not to confront the importance behind the question though, he took in a deep breathe and answered the question. "I went to my two jobs and after that I went to my brother's house. Then at around 8:00 o'clock at night, I headed over to Monica's house and I left from her house to go to my first job."_

"_You said that you have two jobs; what do you do for a living?" _

_Once again, another question of irrelevance, but it wasn't worth a confrontation about it. "My first shirt is at night from 10:00 to 6:00 in the morning where I work at a bar that's just south of the strip. Then after that shift, I leave from the bar and head down to a hardware store where I work from 7:00 in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon."_

"_So you said that you went to Monica's house last night; what did you two do last night for about two hours then?" Nick then asked as he really began to try to pry into the events that Aaron claimed took place. _

"_You know," Aaron started off to say but choked on a bashful laugh when he said it. "We hung out," he then merely offered as a reply, though it was clear that there was more to the story then what he had just stated. _

"_Can you define hanging out for us?" Nick proceeded to ask, his voice ever so thick with a prying incentive. _

"_Does it matter?" Aaron asked in vulnerable yet defense way as his checks became flushed with the uncomfortable topic that he was hoping he would have to bring up._

"_It might," Brass sternly offered as an answer, clearly informing Aaron that he didn't have any other choice other then to answer the question. _

_Taking in a deep breath and looking at the two men before him with innocent and bashful eyes, he told them what happened with a small voice, "We had sex. It's not exactly a crime to have sex now is it?" he then added with a laugh to lightened the awkward mood, but he soon realized that the laughing didn't help the situation, but it seemed to make it more uncomfortable. _

"_It depends," Nick merely answered in return, holding now a very stern and uncomfortable glare at Aaron. _

_A thick gulp then knotted in Aaron's throat as his forehead started to become sweaty and his nerves rose. He knew he was innocent and would swear on the bible to it, but sitting across from these two men was practically making him self question his own innocent. Maybe this whole Monica thing was a joke and he was really being interrogated for a petty crime, like he took a pen and forgot to give it back or maybe it was that time when someone gave him an extra $5 back in change and he didn't return it. At this moment, he felt like an ant getting picked on by a kid with a magnifying glass and it felt like there was no way to escape. _

"_Well Mr. Richards, there isn't really much more that we can do until the DNA results come back so why don't you just hang out in here until we get those results alright," Nick forcefully offered the panicked looking man as he got up from his seat and began to head toward the door. _

"_Can you please answer just one question for me," Aaron finally blurted out before his to interrogators were out of sight. "Is Monica okay?" he asked once he saw that he had their attention. _

"_Well, I'm on my way to go see her now so I'll let you know," Nick merely offered as a response as he swiftly left the interrogation room and left Aaron Richards alone to himself and his jumbled thoughts. _

_As Nick left the room and turned the corner, he was then met face to face with his supervisor. "So you're heading down to the hospital then?" Grissom asked, though already knowing the answer as he was listening to the interrogation. _

"_You know, I just think it's better to work with the victim's statement rather then the suspects. Plus, I figured that by the time I get back, Greg should be finished processing the DNA results and we'll be well on our way to convicting the son-of-a-bitch."_

"_Don't get ahead of the evidence Nick," Grissom quickly warned. "Although we work by the philosophy that everyone is a suspect until their innocence is proven, the state of Nevada holds to the constitutional right that we're innocent until proven guilty."_

"_I understand," Nick humbly replied as he heeded the words of his wise supervisor before he began to make his way toward the elevator._

* * *

_Walking toward the hospital room that he was guided toward and knocking on her door, Nick made his presence known to the young woman that was lying in her bed. "Hey Monica," he said as he made his way into her room and over to her._

"_Hey Nick," she merely replied with a quiet, timid voice and a weak smile. _

"_How've you been?" he asked as he took a seat in a chair that was right next to her bed. _

"_You know," she started off saying but then paused for a moment, deciding what the best thing to say would be. "I've been better," she informed with the same small, measly voice. _

_Nick couldn't deny that the mood in the room changed after that comment as he could feel the trauma that she had experienced. Trying to set aside the dismal atmosphere though, he then turned to Monica with a smile on his face and began to inform her of some good news. "I actually just talked to the nurses before I came in. They told me that they have been taking good care of you and that you'll be able to go home once your dad comes to check you out."_

"_Is my dad on his way?" she asked with a spark of life in her voice as she said this. _

_Nick happily nodded his head. "We got a hold on him and he said that he'll be on the first flight to Vegas. He sounded pretty worried though, but we assured him that you were in good hands."_

"_Wow," Monica firstly said, but finished her comment with a warm voice of gratitude. "Thank you so much."_

"_Of course," Nick proudly assured, happy to see that he had done a good thing that had lifted her spirits. Carrying on with the moment, he then took his opportunity to tell Monica why he was there. "Hey Monica, I was wondering if you're feeling up to answering those questions for me?" _

"_Yeah sure, I want to make sure that I can help out as much as I can," she bravely replied. _

"_Great, let's get started then. So we're going to get right into this okay. Just take your time and if there is ever a point where you want to stop, but say so okay," Nick assured with a soft smile of encouragement toward the young woman. "I need you to start off by explaining exactly what happened last night, as best as you can remember."_

"_So last night, I was watching TV and it was around 8:00 o'clock last night that I heard a knock on my door. I know it was 8:00 because that TV show Survivor had just started."_

"_Why did you answer the door?" he asked out of concern and curiosity. "Didn't you check through the little peep hole to see who it was?"_

"_Honestly, it was my sheer stupidity that made me open the door. I didn't even think to look through the peep hole or anything; I just opened the door and then…" It was here that Monica grew extremely quiet. _

_As Nick observed her reaction, it was clear that it seemed as if Monica was replying the events in her mind. "That's when Aaron attacked you," Nick half asked and half stated._

_Monica silently nodded her head. "All of a sudden I'm on the ground and Aaron has his hand over my mouth," she stated with a trembling voice. "I just remember being scared at that point, but clearly that was the least of my worries."_

"_What happened after that?" Nick asked, though not is a forceful way, but more so to encourage her to keep explaining what happened, as by the reactions that she was displaying, Nick was growing worried that she might back down._

_Taking in a deep breath and releasing a slow exhale, she took to the encouragement that Nick had provided and continued to explain what had happened to her. "He dragged me to my room and threw me onto my bed and then tied me up. I kept trying to kick him but he was just too strong. Next thing I know, I'm bound spread eagle to my bed and I have this guy straddling my waist. Then he goes on this weird whole "I love you" speech but when I wouldn't say I love you back, he started saying that he's going to make me love him. It was then that he started to take his pants off and I started to scream but he put a piece of tape over my mouth before anyone could hear me. After that… he…" But she couldn't even finish the statement as an agonizing and shameful bawl left her throat as tears began to stream down her face. _

"_You're doing great Monica," Nick calmly said to her as he took one of her hands and held it. "I know it's hard," he said, sympathizing with her. _

_Taking in a second deep breath, Monica quickly gained her composure back and wiped away her tears before continuing with her statement. "So after he was finished, he told me that he had to go to work and he told me that he was going to leave me tied up while he was gone so I couldn't escape. It was when he left though that I got really scared. I felt abandoned and I was worried that no one was going to find me and I was also scared for when he came back… I just never felt so alone before," she explained as another tear slowly trickled down her cheek. _

"_You didn't think that Cory would? He told us that he picks you up for school every morning," Nick suggested. _

"_Honestly, when you're in a position like I was, you seriously can't contemplate anything other then the worse. I knew that Cory was going to be at my house at 7:30 to pick me up for school, but I kept thinking that what if today is the day that he can't pick me up, or what if his alarm doesn't go off, or what if he comes to pick me up but because I didn't answer the phone or open the door, he leaves. Constantly I was considering the worst… it wasn't until he found me that I figured that everything was going to be okay."_

"_Well thank god he found you," Nick said with a pleased grin. _

"_I can't even begin to imagine if he didn't."_

"_I just have a few more questions for you Monica alright and then you can get back to resting. You said that Aaron started stalking you a couple of weeks ago; do you remember seeing him anywhere that you think triggered the obsession?"_

"_Well I first met Aaron when I went to the hardware store about three weeks ago. My farther was remodeling the shed in our backyard and he sent me to the hardware store to pick up a few items for him. Well I couldn't find what my dad was looking for so I asked one of the employees where to find the items and well, that employee that I asked was Aaron. He was really helpful, but then he insisted that he ring me up at the register and then he offered to use his employee discount on me and it was a nice gesture and everything but I seemed too nice. He was then flirting with me and then offered to walk out with me and carry my things to my car, and I didn't want to be rude so I said sure. But after that day, for like the past three weeks, all of a sudden, I was seeing him everywhere."_

"_How come you didn't report this to the police?"_

"_I wanted to wait till my dad returned from his trip on Monday. I just didn't know what to do and I didn't think that Aaron was dangerous or anything. I figured that my dad would be able to handle the situation. Clearly though, I was naive to think that I person who was stalking me wasn't going to be a threat."_

"_I'm sorry that this had to happen to you Monica," Nick woefully commented as he took the girls hand again. _

_Upon Nick's condolences, Monica merely nodded her head, implying that she had heard him, but kept a distant look in her eyes, as to her, Nick could feel sorry for her all that he wanted, but he wouldn't be able to understand her situation. "When will I be able to see Cory?" she then asked. _

"_We can actually only allow family members in here or until a family member gives permission," Nick then informed her with an apologetic look in his eyes. _

"_So I'm supposed to stay in her all by myself until my father, who is probably still in is Boston, Massachusetts, arrives?" she asked with a snide and irritated look in her expression. _

"_I'm very sorry," he apologized yet again, but upon his comment, Monica had then let out a rather irritated sounding huff. Trying to ignore her passive aggressive attitude, he then turned the conversation around and began to ask Monica some more questions, ones that he knew she would want to answer though. "So Cory mentioned that you two have been together for almost two years?"_

_Automatically, Monica smiled. "I always joke that it feels like we've been dating for four years."_

"_Why's that?" he asked as he let out a small chuckle. _

"_I meet him freshman year and we've been really good friends since then. We started dating my junior year though," she explained. Then, an unexpected, slightly sorrow expression came across her face. "I hate that we don't go to the same school anymore though."_

"_Cory graduated?" he half questioned and half stated. After seeing Monica nod her head, he then issued his follow-up question. "Where did he attend; UNLV or WLVU?"  
_

_To Nick's question, Monica's brow had furrowed as she clearly displayed a sense of confusion. "Ummm, Cory is attending WLVU; he graduated from Las Vegas High School last year."_

"_Wait," Nick stopped as he pinched the bridge of his nose and contemplated what Monica was telling him. "So you're still in high school?" he asked with a hidden sense of shock in his voice. When Monica nodded her head though, once again it inspired another question in Nick's mind. "How old are you?"_

"_17," she casually and straight-forwardly answered. "My birthday is at the end of next month though. I can't wait to finally be classified as an adult."_

_Upon this answer, Nick could hide the wide-eyed expression or the slowly dropped jaw. "You're 17," he then repeated, still holding the shock stricken expression on his face. _

"_Wait, did you think I was in college?" she then asked, laughing at what seemed to be ludicrous though to her. _

"_I'll be honest; I didn't think that you were as young as you are," he commented with the same blank expression of surprise in his eyes. "I actually need to head back to the station now," he then announced as Nick began to excuse himself. "Thank you again for all the help Monica," he finally added as he swiftly made his way out of her room. _

_Nick desperately wanted to leave the hospital at this point as the news that he had for Grissom had completely changed the charges on the case. As he stood at the elevator waiting though, he was then approached by a young, blonde nurse. _

"_Mr. Stokes," she asked with a quiet and polite voice. "I have Monica Brush's S.A.E. kit that you requested," she said as she handed the evidence to him. _

_Taking the box from the young woman's hands, Nick looked back at her and thanked her before he got onto the elevator and headed back to the crime lab. _

* * *

"_Hey Greggo," Nick light heartedly said as he entered the DNA lab. "You having fun with your beakers and test tubes?" he then quipped with a knowledgeable glance toward the lab tech. _

_Before Greg could cleverly deliver his quip at Nick though, Grissom had then walked into the DNA and had beaten him to the comeback. "Well let's hope so Nick," he quickly said back with a hopeful yet serious stare at his subordinate partner. Then turning his attention at Greg, he asked, "Do you have any results for us?"_

_Quickly gathering his papers from the printer behind him, Greg handed them over to his boss and immediately went into explaining the evidence. "Actually, a lot of what you gave me led to a dead end. The evidence belonged to either the boyfriend or Monica. There was also a result that came back to an unknown male but after I cross-referenced it with the database I found that there were 13 allies in common with our victim, so I'm assuming that it belongs to her father."_

"_What about the evidence from her bed?" Grissom then asked, finding it hard to believe that all the evidence that he had collected was explainable and didn't even relate to his crime scene. _

"_The blood belongs to Monica, but that alone doesn't prove that she had been raped. For all we know, it could have been a… monthly accident," Greg modestly suggested. _

"_So we don't have the results from the epithelials that I collected from the mattress?" Grissom questioned, drawing this conclusion based off Greg's inconclusive assumption. _

"_Well see, there is your golden ticket," Greg quipped with a simple smile. "The epithelials from the mattress not only came back to Monica, but the DNA is a match to Aaron."_

"_Which places Aaron at the crime scene," Grissom concluded with a proud look in his eyes. _

"_But in his defense," Greg then unexpectedly added, "it still doesn't prove that he's raped her."_

"_I think this does," Nick retorted as he handed Greg a small cardboard box. "This is the evidence that the nurses collected from Monica's S.A.E.," Nick merely informed as he distanced his emotions from the events that had taken place._

"_So you got Monica's statement?" Grissom asked, seeing that Nick had gone to the hospital._

"_Yes," Nick woefully said, his voice clearly emanating the fact that the matter of events were worse then what they had assumed. _

"_So is Aaron a suspect?"_

_Nick only nodded his head, silently answering his boss. There was more that he wanted to say though, but he didn't know how. There was always the blunt and brash way that avoided the act of beating around the bush, but Nick saw Monica's delicate nature and held the same respect to the fragile truth. At the moment, he couldn't find himself to announce what really happened in such a casual way where you couldn't express sympathy or sorrow for what the young girl went through. Taking in a deep breath, he looked at his supervisor with hollow eyes and said, "She claimed that Aaron… violated her. The S.A.E. kit proves it."_

"_We still need to wait for the DNA results though, so to prove that Aaron was in fact the one who raped her," Grissom said with a contradictory tone, knowing that a statement only offers so much verses the truth that evidence provides. _

"_Grissom, I'm telling you, it's not even worth waiting for the results. We know what Aaron did to her and its time to convict the bastard," Nick harshly added as he defended the dignity of their victim. _

"_Nick, it's risky to accuse someone when we don't have all of the evidence," Grissom cautiously warned. _

"_I've got plenty of evidence," Nick confidently challenged. "I want to question Aaron again."_

"_Could I watch?" Greg then quickly added, passively breaking the growing tension between Nick and Grissom. _

"_Greg you need to run the seminal DNA against Aaron so that we can convict him," Grissom merely offered as an excuse as he wasn't yet convinced by Nick that now was the best time to question Aaron again. _

_Unexpectedly though, Greg once again cleverly challenged Grissom's statement. "I could get the test started and while the results are being processed I could watch the interrogation. It takes 24 minutes to run the test anyways so we might as well get something done while we're waiting for the results."_

"_Then it's settled," Nick said as he then swiftly made his way out of the DNA lab, an action that didn't allow Grissom the chance to excuse Greg's suggestion. _

* * *

"_Can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Aaron desperately asked with a strained expression on his face. "I've been sitting here for hours now and I still don't know if Monica is alright."_

"_Well despite what happened, I'll say that she is going to make a full recovery," Nick snidely added as he took a seat across from Aaron at the interrogation table. _

"_That's great," Aaron chocked out, his voice sounding as if he was about to cry tears of joy. "When can I see her?" he then eagerly asked. _

"_See the thing is Aaron," Nick stated off saying with a sarcastic tone, "I just don't know if Monica's going to want to see you Aaron." _

"_Why," he simply questioned, with a thick look of confusion in his expression. "What happened to Monica?"_

"_Why don't you tell us," Nick knowingly suggested. _

_At this moment, Aaron let out an arrogant, chocked back laugh, while shaking his head in disbelief. "I don't know what happened, that's why I'm asking you," he irritably replied back. _

"_So you don't remember tying her up last night," Nick asked as he placed a picture of Monica bound to her bed on the interrogation table. _

"_How did you get that picture?" Aaron asked with an undeniably confused expression in his eyes._

"_So you admit, you tied her up last night," Nick questioned but mostly accused as he realized that he now had Aaron suck in an unexplainable position. _

"_Yes I tied her up," he firstly confessed, but realized that it wasn't a piece of information that really made him look good in this situation. "I can explain," he then offered._

"_Please do," Nick snidely encouraged with a skeptical and mocking tone. _

"_Well I told you that Monica and I had sex last night," he firstly started to explain. "This is kind of embarrassing," he then warned as he proceeded to explain why he had tied her up, "but Monica likes rough sex. She had this fantasy where I would pretend to kidnap her, tie her up and rape her. When I left for work though, I untied her. That's why I'm confused about how you got that picture," he humbly explained with a slightly bruised ego. _

_Nick was silent for a minute after he heard Aaron explanation though, processing in his mind what he had heard. When he broke the silence though, with the same snide tone, he questioned, "So rough sex; that's what you're calling it?" _

_It took a lot for Aaron to dismiss the snarky and accusatory comment, but it had also once again confused Aaron as he didn't know how to respond to Nick other then to give into his confusion. "Okay, what are you talking about?" he finally asked with a miserably lost expression on his face. _

"_You see this picture here?" Nick asked as he redirected Aaron's attention to the photo on the desk. "This is how I found Monica this morning, tied up to her bed and crying. When we asked her what happened though, she told us a lot more then we wanted to hear. See, what you're calling rough sex, she's calling rape."_

"_WHAT!" Aaron shouted back at Nick with an incredulous look on his face. "You think I raped my girlfriend?"_

"_We have evidence that proves that you did," Nick smugly retorted with a proud portrayal of confidence. _

"_I didn't rape Monica," he sternly contradicted with a strong stare. _

"_Look, I'm sick of beating around the bush. I don't believe you. Cutting the bull shit, here's what I think happened. Let's start the story at about three weeks ago as that is when she said that she first met you. She went to the hardware store where you work at and you helped her find supplies that she needed to fix her shed. You were a little too nice to her though; offering to ring her up, use your employee discount and to carry her things out to her car for her. Gentleman gestures or a stalker selecting his pray? Anyway, she didn't want to be rude so she said yes, but then all of a sudden, she starts seeing you a lot more and she's starting to get worried. But then again, you don't seem dangerous so she doesn't feel the need to report anything. Last night though, you proved her wrong. You knocked on her door and when she opened it, you attacked her, you tied her up to her bed, and finally, you raped her."_

"_Are we talking about the same Monica here?" Aaron skeptically question, finding it hard to believe that he was being accused for this bull shit. _

"_Well seeming that you drove to her house this morning, I would say that yes, we are talking about the same Monica Brush," Nick once again cleverly and logically retorted. _

"_Then you need to get your facts straight because Monica and I have been dating for three years."_

"_I do have my facts straight buddy. Everything I just told you, they were all the exact words that came from Monica's mouth."_

_Aaron was silent for a second, but his next words unexpectedly raised a red flag to the investigators. "I think I need a lawyer."_

"_I think you need to cut the bull shit and get your story straight."_

* * *

"_So you got the DNA results yet?" Nick impatiently asked as he followed Grissom into Greg's lab._

"_It's still working its magic but it should be done in a few minutes," Greg casually responded._

"_I thought that this was supposed to be done by the time I was done with the interrogation?" he then challenged with a snide and intolerable attitude. _

"_Well I didn't know that the interrogation was going to go by so fast," Greg then defended with an irritable look fixed at Nick. _

"_I didn't know that the ass hole was going to ask for a lawyer!" Nick then unceremoniously snapped back._

"_It is his right to one though Nick," Grissom then reasoned to Nick. It was a fact that Nick was well aware of though, but at this moment, he didn't care about the law, only trying to nail the bastard that had raped Monica. _

_It was after Grissom's moment that an awkward silence had filled the DNA lab that they had all assumed would probably carry out until the results had finally finished, which at this moment couldn't be a moment too soon. _

_Amidst the silence though, Greg's mind had been scrambling, all considering a possibility that seemed logical. Finally choosing to break the silence, Greg asked his question, but once he had asked it, it quickly proved to be a questioning that was more disturbing and uncomfortable then the awkward silence. _

"_What if Aaron is innocent," he carelessly asked with an optimistic spirit as he figured that he would get to have an interesting a intellectual conversation with Grissom and Nick, two CSI's that he looked up to. Unfortunately for Greg though, this would not be the case. _

"_What do you mean?" Nick asked as he choked back a laugh._

"_I mean what if the guy's story is true?" he firstly reasoned. After he looked at the expressions of his two superiors though, he then decided to continue with his thought. "You know, that he's been dating Monica for three years."_

"_Greg, you can't be serious, you believe Aaron over Monica, our victim," Nick humorously questioned, feeling that Greg's thought was all just a joke. _

"_Well one of the stories is a lie, what if Monica is lying," Greg challenged once again._

_After hearing Greg's response though, Nick quickly realized that he was being completely serious and that he was actually considering if Aaron was innocent. "Wow Greg, you're calling our victim a liar?" he snidely said. "Greg, the S.A.E. clearly shows that Monica was raped."_

"_Rough sex can leave the same marks though," he challenged, not only knowing this information based off of coroner reports that he's seen but also from experiencing the same harsh yet riveting experience of rough sex. _

"_More importantly though, rape can leave those kind of marks," Nick once again retorted, as he chose to remain unconvinced to Greg's argument. _

"_Greg do you honestly believe that Aaron is innocent?" Grissom genuinely asked realizing that this was something that he young CSI in training was seriously considering. _

_It was different to question Nick's thoughts, but it was another thing to question Grissom. Upon Grissom's question, Greg at first remained silent but then offered him a weak and almost cowardly response by saying, "I don't know."_

"_Greg," Grissom firstly said so to get Greg attention. Once the lab tech was looking at him in his eyes though, he then proceeded to encourage the novice investigator. "State your reasoning," he requested with an eager voice. _

"_Grissom, I really don't know, it was just something I was considering," he excused with a voice that was practically begging for his mentor to drop the conversation, but as he received the same forcefully convincing stare, Greg knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter. "I was just thinking that when you have a case like this where you have two stories that are the same but they also contradict each other, which one do you believe?"_

"_You believe what the evidence gives you," he confidently answered. _

"_But the evidence shows that she could have been raped or she could have had rough sex. Aaron could have raped her or she could be setting him up," Greg continued to challenge. _

"_Greg, is that what you really believe?" Nick asked with almost a disappointed look on his face. _

"_Why are you giving me that look?" he harshly asked with an offended look on his face. It was then though that Greg had come up with the perfect example that he knew Nick would understand and he would finally be able to get his point across to him. "You know what?" he firstly stated with a new confident grin. "I have a perfect example for what I'm talking about."_

"_Humor me Greg," Nick challenged with a serious stare. _

"_What about that case that happened three years ago between you and Kristy Hopkins?"_

"_What about it?" Nick asked with a heavy sigh and gritted teeth as he was forced to remember that case. _

"_You were the main suspect in that case. You were accused of murdering Kristy after you guys spent the night with each other. Then there was that jerk that really killed her that was trying to frame you and also claimed that he was a witness who saw you beating her or something. The truth behind it all, you were innocent and he killed her."_

"_But the evidence was there to prove that I was innocent. Greg, you're doing something that you not supposed to do in the field and that is getting ahead of the evidence."_

"_Well you're just as guilty of doing it at the moment. You think that Aaron raped Monica, but he's saying that he didn't." _

"_So you're calling our victim a liar?"_

"_I'm just considering the alternative."_

"_But your alternative has nothing to do with what happened with me three years ago! Like seriously Greg, how does that case fit into this one?"_

"_Aaron is you and Monica is the jerk who set you up. God what was his name?"_

"_Jack Willman," Nick smugly replied. _

"_And Monica is Jack Willman," Greg then repeated._

"_Wouldn't Monica be Kristy though?" Grissom then calmly asked. "Seeming that Monica, like Kristy, is the victim?"_

_Once again, with Grissom chiming in and always presenting his logical reasoning, it had intimidated Greg and had reduced him to silence. _

"_Greg, I'm not going to lie," Grissom started to say to the young lab tech. "You're making a very good point and a strong argument," he encouraged yet again, trying to put a spirit back into his very optimistic CSI wannabe. "But the major difference between Nick's case and Aaron's is that Monica, unlike Kristy, is alive." It was the contradicting that had once again erased that smile from Greg's face. _

_As Greg continued to remain silent, Grissom had then proceeded to carry out his reasonable statement. "As CSI's, we speak through the dead and tell the story of what happened to them. It's not very often we have a victim who is alive, so when that happens, we heavily rely on them as they are a witness to what happened but we are able to question them and they can inform us on what they experienced. Monica not only has provided us with evidence that points to Aaron, but she has told us what Aaron did to her and her statement supports the evidence."_

"_But the evidence also supports Aaron's statement too," Greg proceeded to contradict, proudly holding strong to what he thought. _

"_You said that Aaron is like Nick, well what if Aaron is like Jack Willman. If you remember Jack was the one who killed Kristy so he knew exactly what happened to her. Because of what he knew, he was able to manipulate the crime scene and change the scenario around to make him self look like a witness rather then a suspect. He delivered a story that supported the evidence that we collected and not only that, but he delivered a story that perfectly framed Nick and he had the evidence to support it."_

"_For the time being," Greg mused. _

"_Very true," Grissom agreed as he remembered how Catherine found the sash that cleared Nick's name. "The point is though; the killer manipulated the situation and made him self look like the witness which ultimately got the target off of his back. The ones who are guilty will contradict everything that they can to avoid the truth." _

"_But unlike Jack, Aaron didn't manipulate a crime scene. He just has a different story then Monica but his story fits the evidence as well."_

"_That's true Greg," Grissom firstly mused. "But there is also the fact that Aaron has been stalking Monica," he suggested. _

"_What does that have to do with him being guilty or not?"_

"_It could be that he can't even define what reality is. If you remember when Nigel Crane was stalking Nick, he was so infatuated with him where he was even going to kill Nick in order to become him. It was his process of Self-Actualization which is the final stage of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. With Aaron Richards, it's along the same lines as you can see the same pattern. It's as if Aaron has created this world where he is involved with Monica and even though they only knew each other for three weeks, to him it was three years. To Aaron, Monica Brush was his girlfriend that he was in love with. The only problem was there was that barrier between fantasy and reality, and Aaron's final stage of Self-Actualization was to prove to him self that they were really together. When Aaron was raping Monica, to him it was consensual sex, and having that mind set could also lead to his denial of raping her. To him it was affection, to Monica it was trauma."_

"_So you think Aaron is a nutcase then?"_

"_Most stalkers are," Nick then commented._

"_This is one of the many crossroads with being a CSI Greg, but it's always important to remember to follow the evidence for the evidence does not lie," he encouraged. "Let us know when you have the results on the S.A.E. kit alright," he then requested. _

"_Sure thing," he agreed. Once he was alone in the DNA lab though, he finally announced his comment to him self that he was proud he kept in from Grissom. "The evidence might not lie but people do."_

"_What was that Greg?"_

_At first Greg had worried that Grissom had indeed over heard his comment that he had made to himself, but as he turned around and faced the warm smile of the woman he had a not-so-silent crush on, he quickly relaxed and excused the comment he had made. "Nothing Sara," he said as he brushed the comment off his shoulder and pretended like it never happened. _

"_I though you were supposed to be in the field today?" Sara asked as she crossed her arms and leaned onto on to the counter that Greg was standing at. _

"_I was," Greg firstly assured. "I got to shadow Nick and Grissom at a crime scene today. I still have to run the DNA on our case though so here I am," he explained, though showing very little enthusiasm._

"_Alright stud, explain your self," she ordered with a playful yet and adorably serious stare._

"_What?" he merely asked as he continued to display a very bland attitude.  
_

"_Can I just point out that you have been expressing way too much enthusiasm for the field to be having a mood like this?" she reasonably stated. "So, what's going on?" she then proceeded to ask, though with a genuine concern in her voice. _

"_Have you ever had a case where your victim's statement completely contradicts your suspect's statement?"_

"_Greg, that's like asking a stripper if she's ever danced on a pole before," she light-heartedly quipped, knowing that it would be a comment to bring a smile to Greg's face, and it did. "I have to say though; it's usually the suspect's statement that contradicts the victim's statement," she then added, finding it odd how Greg chose to phrase his sentence. _

"_Well that's the problem I'm having," Greg explained in a very brash way. "It's frustrating because I'm considering if the suspect is telling the truth and the victim is lying."_

"_Really?" Sara questioned, rather impressed that Greg was showing off a rather advanced way of thinking for being such a novice. "Have you mentioned it to Grissom?"_

"_Yes," he answered with a quiet voice and expression. _

"_And what did he say?" she asked, wanting to know what Grissom thought._

"_Well let's just say that he and Nick disagree with me."_

"_Well if Grissom is disagreeing with you, it's gonna be because of your thought either goes against protocol or the evidence," she tried to explain but also in a way tat defended Grissom. "Then with Nick, he probably disagrees with you because he's emotionally invested in a case and when that happens with him, he just becomes very… determined," she figured was the nicest way to put it. _

"_It doesn't matter, I'm the newbie so it's not like what I have to say is of any importance," Greg bitterly stated with defeat. _

"_Greg you can't think like that if you're going to be a CSI. If you disagree with something question it," she encouraged. When Greg's expression stayed the same though, it was then that Sara decided to further pick at Greg's brain as it was clear that there was something more then this case that was bothering him. "Greg, are you alright? Is there something you want to talk about?"_

"_It's nothing," he quickly resorted to saying._

"_Greg," was all she said though, making sure that he got his full attention. Once he looked up at her, it took nothing more then a sweet, convincing stare to get him to finally open up to her._

"_I'm just wondering if I'm really cut out to be a CSI," he admitted with a questionable and lost gleam in his eyes. "It's just this case," he then went to explain, but with his mind being as scrambled as it was, he didn't exactly even know where to begin with explaining his thoughts. To sum it up though, he finally blurted out, "Hell, I'm basically calling our victim a liar and I believe the suspect! I'm terrified that I'm going to mess up and I'm petrified that I'm going to disappoint everyone! This whole thing is just turning into a reality check and I don't know what to do!" _

"_All I can say is that this job will do that to you," she offered with a small chuckle but then quickly pursed her lips as she tried to give a serious piece of advice to her friend in need of some assurance. "Greg, I know your going through a lot as becoming a CSI, it's a lot to absorb," she started off saying so to assure that the stress that Greg was going through was normal. "With working in the lab, you're in an environment that has structure and you're trading that in to work in a world of ciaos. You're moving from double helixes to double homicides and where your answer isn't just a push of a button away. Your now going to be finding show impressions, trace evidence, DNA evidence, fingerprints, ballistics, and you still have an autopsy to deal with on top of all that and more." _

"_Are you trying to convince me to go through with becoming a CSI or what?" Greg questionable asked, seeming that Sara's pep talk wasn't all that peppy. _

"_Let me finish," Sara added with a confident smile. "Greg your very smart and ambitious and I know if you set your mind to it, you'll be a great CSI. I'll tell you right now, processing a crime scene you'll find will be the easiest part of your job."_

"_Then what's the hard part?" Greg asked, wanting to heed to warning that Sara was providing him with. _

"_Why do you think Grissom holds so much faith in evidence?" Sara asked, leaving Greg to ponder the question for a brief moment before she answered it. "It's true you know that the evidence doesn't lie."_

"_But people do," Greg reasoned. "People lie and liars can manipulate evidence, which is why they can hold power over the truth."_

"_And right there, that is the hardest part of this job," Sara finally answered with an accepting smirk barely tugging at the corner of her lip. "You begin to consider alternative possibilities and after that you don't know who to trust. Your gut will be telling you one thing but the evidence says another," she explained to Greg with a knowledgeable glance at him implying that she understood exactly what he was going through. "It's one of the hardest things to deal with."_

_Though the conversation had ended on a slightly dismal note, Greg chose to find the optimism in the conversation and looked to Sara was grateful eyes and a subtle smile and said, "Thanks." Changing the conversation though, but not too much, he then said, "Well hopefully your gut agrees with your evidence; I've got your results," he announced as he pointed to the piece of paper sitting in the printer tray. _

_Sara took the paper from the printer and briefly scanned over it before turning her attention to Greg again. Looking at him, she could see that she did resort a more optimistic spirit into him though there was still a sense of doubt behind his eyes. "I promise Greg, it'll get's easier," she encouraged once more._

"_It's just a bit overwhelming. I've only had to rely on beakers and test tubes, but now, I have to rely on my gut," he said with a nervous stare. _

"_Keep in mind that you still have the beakers and test tubes Greg, just you won't be running the tests anymore. All you're doing is juggling another ball," she metaphorically added. _

"_You know I've never been good at juggling," Greg mused, though in the literal sense._

"_Neither have I," she added with a laugh catching onto what Greg was implying. Returning her thought to he central point though, she continued to say, "But look at me now, I'm a CSI level 3, and someday, you will be too."_

"_I just want to become a level 1 first."_

"_And you will," she encouraged yet again as she turned to leave the lab. Before she walked out though, she turned back around and got Greg's attention one last time. "Hey after shift, Cath, Warrick, Nick and I are all gonna go out for breakfast; you should come too."_

_At this moment, nothing sounded better then getting off work and enjoying a hot meal and it didn't take any convincing after that thought for Greg to agree to the invitation. "Yeah sure, I'll be done around 8:00."_

* * *

"_Mr. Grissom?" he heard a man ask as he approached the front desk. Turning to face the person who had addressed him, he had then addressed the man back. "Yes, and you are?"_

"_My name is Calvin Richards," he introduced as he extended his hand out to shake the man's hand with the graying beard. "My brother, Aaron, called me and asked me to meet him here," he informed. _

"_Has your brother mentioned anything to you?" Grissom curiously asked so to see if their suspect brother knew of anything that was currently going on. _

"_He just said that he needed me to come down her that that it was urgent," Calvin merely replied. "Is everything alright?" he then asked with a brow beginning to furrow. _

"_How about we go and talk in my office," Grissom suggested as he knew the conversation he was about to have with this man was one meant for privacy. Once he saw Calvin nod his head, the two of them then walked around the corner to his office and as Grissom shut the door behind him, the two of them took a seat at his desk. _

"_So what's going on?" Calvin immediately asked with a stern voice, clearly stating that he didn't want to deal with the passive action of beating around the bush but rather confronting the current situation that involved his brother. _

"_Your brother is currently a suspect in our investigation," Grissom replied. _

_Instantly Calvin's stern expression weakened and as worry swept over him. Holding his composure though, he proceeded to ask, "What did he do?"_

"_We're still waiting for our results to clear your brother as a suspect but until then, your brother isn't being charged with anything," Grissom firstly assured so to ease Calvin who clearly seemed tense at the moment. "I would actually like to start off with asking you a few questions regarding your brother, if that's alright?"_

"_If it'll help Aaron, of course," Calvin willingly agreed._

"_Are you and your brother close?" Grissom started off with asking; a simple question but one that would certainly help to expand the type of questions that he could ask. _

"_Without question Aaron is my best friend," he proudly said with an honest grin. "I know everything about him."_

"_Do you know if he has been seeing anyone recently?" _

"_Yeah, he's been dating this girl Monica for about three years."_

_This was the first piece of information that he had received at had contradicted Monica's statement but not only that, had supported Aaron's statement. "Have you met her before?" he then asked._

"_You know, as close as Aaron and I are, I unfortunately have never met his girlfriend that he has been seeing for three years," Calvin explained with a surprised tone and a shake of his head, finding it hard to believe himself that he had never met Monica before. _

"_Can you explain that for me?" Grissom then asked, falling under the same surprise as Calvin as he too found it hard to believe that he had never met his brother's girlfriend after he had claimed that the two of them were close. _

"_You know I tried to meet her, on several occasions, but every time that I was supposed to met her, Aaron would then call me up and would have an excuse for me why I couldn't meet Monica. Sorry Cal but Monica's sick, Monica has an appointment, she got held up at work, she's out of town, she's on her period. I would actually mess with him and say that he was making her up, but I know he wasn't. Without a doubt, I can tell you that he was in love, no question."_

"_How often did he talk about her?"_

"_When didn't he talk about her? Every time we would see each other he always had some story about her or something to talk about regarding her. Also, he would always say that she and Leah would have gotten along great, which is another reason why I wanted to meet her so badly."_

"_I'm sorry, but who's Leah?" Grissom asked upon hearing about this new person._

"_My wife," Calvin answered, but after his expression grew rather sorrow. "She passed four years ago; cancer," he then explained. _

"_I'm very sorry," Grissom respectfully offered. _

"_Thank you."_

_Moving forward from the tragedy of the past, Grissom proceeded with the questioning. "Well even though you have never met Monica, have you seen a photo of her before?"_

_Shaking his head like he did before with an incredulous look on his face, Calvin once again admitted to the strange relationship that he had with Aaron's real, mystery girlfriend when he said, "I actually have absolutely no idea what she looks like. I have never seen a picture of her before. I would always remind Aaron to bring one but he would always forget."_

_For a brief moment, Grissom had begun to side with Greg's thinking that Monica had been set up by Aaron as there were loop holes in Monica's statement with the information that Calvin as providing, but as of now, Grissom was once again convinced that Aaron was indeed the suspect. The fact that Calvin had never met or seen even a picture of Monica before almost implied that Aaron was faking his relationship and Monica was nothing more then a figment of his imagination. _

"_Mr. Richards, have you ever considered if Monica wasn't real and rather a figment of your brothers imagination?" Grissom then cautiously asked._

"_Are you calling my brother a nutcase?" Calvin accused with a harsh voice and angered eyes, clearly taking offense to the ludicrous question. _

"_Mr. Richards, your brother has been stalking a girl named Monica for the past three weeks. I find it strange that you claim that you and your brother are close yet you have never met his girlfriend. You can't blame me for considering the possibility if your brother has in fact created an imaginary girlfriend and when he met a girl named Monica, his imaginary figment became real."_

"_Did he do anything to her?" Calvin then up front asked as he already knew that his brother was a suspect for something more then just stalking. _

"_Yes," Grissom firstly answered. "Last night, he came to her house and he violated her." _

"_He raped her?" Calvin asked, though with an unexpected skeptical tone and an unconvinced expression on his face. "I'm sorry but I don't believe that," he then challenged. "Look, I know my brother and I know he would never harm anyone in that way."_

"_The evidence proves that he did," Grissom went to contradict but was then interrupted by Calvin._

"_What evidence?" Calvin firstly challenged with a smug smile. "You said that my brother hasn't been charged yet."_

"_I understand that this is hard to hear and I'm very sorry to tell you this," Grissom once again went to say but like before was cut off by Calvin. _

"_You know what, how about you take a second to listen to me alright so I can explain to you why my brother isn't a rapist. We had a rough childhood growing up alright. Our mother was a drug addict who committed suicide and my father was a drunk and a pedophile. I hated that bastard and Aaron was terrified of him but one night, our father lost control. He locked me in the pantry and he got a hold of Aaron."_

"_As in he molested him."_

"_Yes. After that we were sent to live with our grandmother in Reno while we grew up and Aaron went through a lot of counseling. Our grandmother made sure he was raised right though. I am telling you, Aaron would never do that to someone. Like this is going to sound so stupid, but he's too nice. He wouldn't have it in him."_

"_Maybe he still has some dark demons from his past."  
_

"_If anyone has the demons, it's me alright! After Aaron was born, my mom went through postpartum depression and one night she told me that she was going to kill herself and Aaron. I was six at the time and I knew that I needed to protect my brother so that's what I did. I hid under the stairs holding onto him when I heard my mom kill herself. Single gun shot to the head. Then there was my father, not only a pedophile but an abusive drunk. He threw beer bottles at me, he burnt my arm with a lighter because he was bored, he would also grab me by the roots of my hair and yell at me, he pushed me down the stairs; let's just say that I took a lot of beatings, but I did it to protect Aaron. When my father locked me in the pantry though that one night, I got to hear him as he molested my little brother. He was five at the time and I was eleven."_

"_Did you're father ever do anything to you?"_

"_You know my mom, even though she was a drug addict, she still loved me and she did her best to raise me. When she killed herself though, I realized that more then anything, she taught me how to protect. I realized that more then anything, she protected me from my father and I knew that I needed to protect Aaron. After she killed herself though, I noticed that my dad began to get more out of control. He drank more and he started abusing me but I put up with it to protect Aaron. I guess I just grew thick skin when I lived there. The night when my dad molested Aaron though, he actually went after me first. I fought against him though but he was stronger and before I knew it, I was locked in the pantry and all I could hear was Aaron screaming and crying. That night I failed at protecting him and I swore to him that I would always be there for him for the rest of his life."_

"_So I'm assuming that is why he called you then?"_

"_We're all that we have. Our grandmother, our only other relative, passed 7 years ago," he informed with a sorrow expression. "I have no family and my wife who I loved with all of my heart was taken from me. All I have left is Aaron, and if I lose him too…" Calvin grew silent as he considered his life with out his best friend and almost wept at the depressing though. "I'm telling you, my brother's innocent."_

"_Mr. Richards I want to thank you for your time," Grissom generously thanked seeing that this was the end of his questioning. _

"_Can I see Aaron now?" Calvin immediately asked as he stood up from his seat. _

"_I'll have an officer take you down to his holding cell," he stated as the two of them left his office and made their way to the front desk where an officer was standing. After Calvin had left with the officer and as the two of them made their way to the holding cells, Nick had then approached Grissom. _

"_Who were you talking to? Nick had asked after seeing a man in Grissom's office just a few minutes ago. _

"_It was Aaron's brother," Grissom merely answered. _

"_God, this must be hard for him, having to hear that his brother raped a minor," Nick expressed with the utmost sense of sympathy for the brother._

"_Wait, Monica is a minor?" Grissom immediately questioned once he heard this surprising news that he was completely unaware of. _

"_Not only that, the DNA results came back on the semen. It came back a match to Aaron Richards," Nick proudly informed as he was happy to hear that they finally had the evidence that they needed to take down Aaron. _

"_You know the brother firmly believes that Aaron is innocent?" Grissom added with now a bleak stare. Understanding the turmoil that both Calvin and Aaron have endured in their lives, Grissom did genuinely express a sense of sympathy for Calvin._

"_Well what do you think?" Nick then asked. _

"_Even if the evidence wasn't enough to prove that Aaron raped Monica, I would challenge this. Aaron's father was a pedophile that molested him when he was five years old. He was clearly at the age where he had a cognitive memory and the statistic shows that 80% of pedophiles were violated as children," Grissom reasoned with the statistical fact. _

"_So you're saying that Aaron raped Monica because of what happened to him in his past," Nick asked to confirm his thoughts once again._

_Grissom stood there in silence for a moment before he finally answered Nick. "It's hard to let demons like that go."_

* * *

"_Aaron?" he questioned as he walked up to the bars of the holding cell._

"_Cal," Aaron said as he walked up the bars of his cell and stood across from his brother, meeting his sorrow eyes with his confused ones. "Thanks for coming," he said as he put his hand on his brothers. _

"_Aaron, what going on?" Calvin asked, desperate for an explanation. "I just talked to this guy who told me that you're being charged for raping someone? Is that true?"_

"_Cal, you know me! You know I would never do something like that!" he defended with tears beginning to form in his eyes as he began to consider if his brother thought he was guilty as well. "I don't know what's going on Cal and I'm scared."_

"_Who is she?" Calvin then bleakly asked as he tried to distance his emotions._

"_It's Monica, my girlfriend," Aaron once again explained with truthful eyes. _

"_The girl you've been seeing?" he asked, wanting a conformation._

"_Calvin you know I would never hurt anyone like that, to go as far as to rape them, but more then anyone, I would never, ever hurt Monica. Everyone is saying that I've been stalking her for the past three weeks when I've been dating her for the past three years!"_

"_Have you really been dating her, for three years, or was the whole thing made up?"_

"_Calvin, why would lie to you about that! I would never!" he continued to assure. "Calvin please, you're my brother you have to believe me. You're the only person I can trust and I need your help. Please, I can't go to jail," he desperately begged as a few tears began to stream down his face._

"_Aaron, I believe you alright," Calvin firstly assured. "I'm really confused though. Can you please explain to me what happened?"_

"_Nothing happened," Aaron repeated yet again as he refused to deny his innocence. Monica and I had sex last night before I went to work, but then when I went back to her house, there are all these cop cars surrounding the house and there was crime scene tape. I then walked up to this guy and ask him what the hell is going on and then all of a sudden, I'm down here in this cell begin accused of raping my girlfriend."_

_Before Calvin had a chance to reply though, the officer that had brought him to his brothers holding cell had walked over to them. "Mr. Richards," he said, addressing Calvin. "I need to take your brother to the interrogation room right now. You can wait outside of the interrogation room alright," he informed. _

_After Calvin nodded his head, it was then that the officer had opened up Aaron's cell and immediately began to lead him toward an interrogation room. As Aaron walked into the room though, he saw the same two familiar faces from before already waiting for him. Taking a seat across from the two gentlemen, a thick gulp had knotted in his throat like before as he awaited his fate to be delivered to him. _

"_So Aaron, lets start off with a simple question shall we?" Brass painfully teased the emotionally wrecked man sitting across from him. _"Do you know how old Monica is?"

"She's 21," he quietly answered.

"Wow, you've done your research," Brass quipped.

"We have too," Nick then added with the same toying attitude that Brass with portraying. "See we just talked to Monica and she is still claiming that you raped her. You know what the penalty for that is? Five years in prison."

"I'm being charged for five years in prison for something that I didn't do?" Aaron asked with hopeless eyes.

"Well actually, see this is the cool part. You wanna see a magic trick?" Brass cleverly quipped yet again.

"Is this a joke?" Aaron miserably asked as he just wanted this whole miserable thing to be done with.

"Nope, because POOF… your five years just turned to 25 years to life in prison."

"WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING HERE!" Aaron immediately shouted back as he heard this.

"See it's a crime to rape someone in Nevada hell it's a crime to rape someone in any 50 state. What changes that five years to 25 though; the age of the victim," Brass informed with a rather sadistic smile.

"Guess how old she was," Nick then asked, with scrutinizing eyes.

"She's 21, I know that for a fact, she's told me and I've seen her driver's license."

"Wrong answer Aaron… Monica Brush is 17 years old."

"What…" Aaron repeated, though this time, his expression was just blank.

"You raped a minor Aaron," Nick blatantly said with a careless stare.

"I didn't rape her but I also didn't know that I was having sex with a minor," he tried to reasonably defend.

"See Aaron, that's where I am just having a hard time believing you. Monica's statement fits our evidence and our evidence says that you did it," Nick informed once again.

"But I love her," he quietly stated with tears thick in his eyes.

"But she didn't love you," Brass heartlessly offered.

"She set me up," he whispered to himself as he continued to wallow in his tears. "Can I see her, please?" he proceeded to ask. More then anything, at this moment all he wanted was an explanation.

"You can see her," Nick then answered, but the hope in his voice only unforgivable betrayed his ears as he finished his sentence. "You can see her in court."

Standing up from his seat and walking over to Aaron, Brass extended his arm out and clasped it around his bicep as he pulled the distraught man up from his chair. It was then that Brass had removed his handcuffs from his back pocket and proceeded wit pull Aaron's arms behind his back. It was then that Brass recited the accursed words that had sealed away Aaron's fate. "Aaron Richards your under arrest for the rape of Monica Brush."

* * *

Poor poor Aaron :(

My question for you guys: 1) So you guys now have the full story of what happened to Aaron Richards, so are you guys confused about anything or have any questions that you need me to answer.

2) What do you guys think of Greg's argument when it came to defending Aaron?

Now to my thanks:

For alerting, thank you Sunlit-Oceans and gunsAndROSES2656.

For favoriting, thank you Sunlit-Oceans.

For reviewing, thank you imcrazyandiknowit, C.H.W.13, and WMG.

So yeah, that's the whole kit-n-kaboodle! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and be sure to review! Reviews full my fire! Anyways, I'm off to continue writing chapter 30 :D! Wish me luck guys and hopefully it'll be up soon :D!


	30. Delusions of the Sane

I'M BAAAAAAAACCCCKKK!

Alright guys, the wait for this chapter I know has been torture and I can't apologize enough for making you guys wait almost two months for a chapter update. I kinda lost my mojo for writing for a while and I also have been working like crazy and just haven't really had a whole lot of time lately. It's been bugging me though, the fact that I hadn't posted a new chapter in so long. I told you guys though, I'm not abandoning my story and I mean it. I've invested too much of my time to this thing to give up on it now. This thing has an ending, I just have to get it written :D!

Good news is though, I kinda have my mojo back so I'm going to be committing my self to getting chapter 31 up really soon. Other then that, enjoy Chapter 30 :D!

* * *

**Chapter 30: Delusions of the Sane **

"Please Calvin, not again," Monica frantically begged as Calvin closed the door behind him and stalked toward her trembling body. It was clear that her plea was ignored though as it didn't stop him from grabbing her arm and raising her onto her bed. Immediately she considered the absolute worst and knew that she was vulnerable to do anything to prevent Calvin from having his way with her. The moment that she made contact with her mattress, as an automatic reaction that truly resembled the terror she felt within, she started to scoot her body back into the far corner of her bed feeling some weak form of comfort knowing that there was at least a distance between her and her attacker.

"What," Calvin blurted with a careless tone after he had watched Monica's pathetic trial to distance herself from him. After scrutinizing her for a good minute though, he then mused with a cold-hearted and despicable glare, "You really think I want to touch your disgusting body again."

Once she heard Calvin's offensive comment, to her own surprise it had unexpectedly filled her with relief. Instantly Monica's eyes softened as she heard that Calvin wasn't going to rape her again, but it then left her wondering what he was doing at her house to begin with. "Then why are you here?" she asked, though his response wasn't anything that she appreciated hearing.

"Wow, you really haven't changed have you?" Calvin comically jested with a cliché shake of the head. Leaning toward her, making her further cower in her corner, with a scrutinizing stare he implied, "You're still the exact same self-centered bitch. You think that this is all about you. Yeah, the guy down in your shed has absolutely nothing to do with why I'm here," he proceeded to mock.

"Look, if you need a place to hide out then that's fine," she then tried to reason, putting herself in a less victimized position as she attempted to portray herself as Calvin's ally. "But if that's all, then why do you need to tie me up?"

Considering himself a methodical mastermind, Calvin could easily see right through Monica's pathetic yet humorous intentions to try and align with him. Remaining silent for a brief moment as he continued to scrutinize her, he contemplated with him self as to what a perfect response to her question would be. It was when he took in a deep, fortifying breath that he began to answer her question. "You know Monica, you're right. I'm here because I need a place to hide out, but frankly I don't need your approval for that. But that's not the only reason why I'm here. I'm here because of what you've done to that poor innocent guy who's tied up in your shed and because of him, I don't think it's a smart move to trust a two-face lying bitch," he calmly explained with a smooth, velvet voice. "And that's why you're tied up."

"I haven't done a damn thing to that guy," she shouted back with an innocent expression in her eyes.

"You may not have shed the blood but the blood is on your hands," Calvin coldly explained with a haunting stare.

Instantly Calvin's comment had made an impression on Monica's conscience. She knew exactly what Calvin was referring too and was ashamed of her self for what she had done as not only had it affected her, but it had also jeopardize the lives of two innocent men. Although she was aware of this fact, it wasn't something that she wanted to confront, especially in front of Calvin. Knowing that it was her safest card to play, she spoke with a fake innocence that she only wished was genuine. "I don't know what you're talking about," she admitted.

The soft gleam that Calvin saw in her eyes, it had disgusted him. The blue hollow orbs that she used as an excuse for eyes, all Calvin saw in them was a blurry haze that was filled with a pseudo sense of confusion. The void expression was no more real then the story she made up five years ago. Proudly extorting her pathetically forced trial at portraying innocence, Calvin took in a quick breath and said with a taunting tone, "You know Monica; I would suggest cutting the bull shit because you're playing oblivion against someone who's holding all of the cards. You're forcing your worthless lies on the wrong person as I know exactly what you did to my brother five years ago you stupid bitch."

Instantly, her empty orbs filled with a genuine emotion that was unmistakable. Tears quickly filled her ducts as she realized that the biggest regret of her past was mercilessly confronting her and she was forced to vulnerably face it. As the tears continued to form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks, the shame kept her from looking at Calvin, but it didn't help that she could perfectly see him staring at her from the corner of her eye. When the mental anxiety took over though and she couldn't bare the degrading effect that his intimidating stare had on her, she finally looked up at him. The look in his eyes though had unexpectedly shaken her to her core though and with any consideration of thought, she blurted out the only thing that she figured would get him to stop staring at her. "I'm sorry," she cried out.

The phrase was unexpected and it had taken Calvin a moment to comprehend what she had just said. It wasn't anything that he had ever expected Monica to say, but it was that very thought that began to fill him with anger. At that moment, there was only one way to release that anger and his victim was sitting right before him. Grabbing her ankles, he yanked her body off the bed and onto the floor and with one powerful swing of his leg, he had viciously kicked Monica right square in her stomach. Instantly she choked out a cry of pain but before she could recuperate from the tender pain in her stomach, Calvin had lifted her up into a sitting position with her back against the wall. Cupping her head, he forced her to look directly into his eyes as he asked her with despicable hate, "Did you just say you're sorry?"

The growing pain in her stomach had completely taken her breath away and she found it rather hard to speak at this moment, though she was actually a bit grateful for that as it would help her to keep her tongue in check. Regardless of the current voice restriction though, she was still forced to answer Calvin and did so by nodding her head.

"Sorry for what?" Calvin then asked, now demanding an explanation for her. It was more so a test for him though, to see if it was a genuine apology or another cliché line of rehearsed bull shit.

"I'm sorry," she started to say, but her voice broke for a quick second. "I'm sorry for what I did to Aaron," she explained with a voice of grief.

After hearing this, Calvin had stood up and taken a step back. Studying her display of emotion, he couldn't decide whether her emotional display was real or not. "Then why did you do it?" he asked, wanting an explanation for her unforgivable actions.

"I did it for the money," she shamefully confessed with a whimpering voice. "I'm sorry Calvin, I really am," she said once again as she looked into Calvin's eyes with her tear stained orbs.

At this moment, Calvin had felt convinced by her words, though there was still something that was bothering him. He was aware of the fact that when people are put into desperate situations, they'll say whatever they can to make sure that they are in the best possible position. The doubt that Calvin felt came from the visual contradictory of her tear-streaked cheeks, but there was also the mental consideration if the visual display was nothing more then a manipulation tactic. There was one thing that was quickly made certain though, and it was all made clear by Monica's following words.

"Look, Calvin you can take the money if you want it. I don't need it, just please, let me go," she finally reduced to shamelessly begging.

The doubt was obliterated instantly and Calvin wasn't shy to mentally curse himself for almost believing her and her deceitful words. "You're offering me $50,000 to let you go?" Calvin skeptically asked with a mock incentive in his voice. "So that's like your bail money then? $50,000 will set you free," he proceeded to mock. "There wasn't a bail price for Aaron. You know I'm doing this for Aaron right? It's not like $50,000 isn't going to bring him back from the dead."

"You know torturing a guy isn't going to bring him back either!" Monica shouted back with an angry expression in her eyes.

"I'm aware of that Monica," Calvin sarcastically mused.

"Then why are you doing this to us?" she demanded to know.

"I'm doing it to avenge my brother's death," Calvin answered with a proud smile. "I'm doing this you because you deserve it," he proceeded to explain. There was still the matter of why he was doing this to Greg though, and that was an answer that he delivered with much sympathy. "It's unfortunate though, that Greg has to be involved. He is one person that doesn't deserve this."

"How can you intentionally hurt someone that you admit doesn't deserve to have this happen to him?" she asked with a voice of shock and disbelief.

After hearing Monica say this, Calvin merely looked at her, shrugged his shoulders and simply replied, "I could ask you the same question. Let me ask you this though. Would you give your life for Greg's?" he curiously asked, finding that if she would be willing to do such a thing would indeed –for a change- be a noble act on her part.

"Calvin, please I don't want to die," she begged once again, clearly dismissing her opportunity for an honorable sacrifice.

"Greg doesn't want to die either Monica," Calvin defended. "I can assure you of that."

"Then why are you torturing him?" she shouted back, seeing the ludicrous hypocrisy behind his motive.

"I've just told you Monica, but once again it's because of what he unfortunately represents. It's unfortunate because he didn't do anything except try to help. He's an innocent person and because of you, this has to happen to him," he explained yet again with a careless attitude as if he truly wasn't affected in the slightest way over what he has done to this innocent person.

"That's your excuse?" she questioned with an unbelievable expression of shock on her face. "That's no reason to torture someone Calvin!"

"I agree, but unfortunately it's what he represents. At least I have a reason behind my doing and it has far more justification then your selfish reason for setting up my brother. You wanted money? You know where you live right? Las Vegas, Sin City, the place where you can go and stand on a corner shake your tits around and come home with a grand in your pocket," Calvin arrogantly suggested.

"I have a little thing called dignity," Monica proudly contradicted, but it didn't take much to degrade that value.

"I beg to differ," he snidely mused. "You don't have the dignity to live up to your integrity. I value integrity more. Tell me, do you feel any remorse for what you've done, especially now, after seeing what your little lie has done to not one, but two innocent men," Calvin ruthlessly reasoned.

"I said I was sorry Calvin," Monica had then shouted back, as if it were going to justify her actions any more then the pathetic phrase had already tried to.

"I'm sure you are," Calvin replied as an average answer that portrayed his surrendering of this useless conversation. Choosing to leave Monica where she was, Calvin had then turned around a made his way to leave her room. Before he had left her room though, Calvin had once more briefly considered Monica's last words. Turning to face her one final time before he left the room, he said to her, "You know if you really mean that you're sorry then maybe you can prove it and save a life today."

Choosing to further ignore Monica beyond his final words, he had then left her room and left her in solitude. It was then that he had made his way through her house and was heading toward the backyard so to visit Greg in the shed below the earth.

Opening the sheds door was a slow action but one that teased his brain in an utterly delightful way. All he could think about was the crippled mess that was trapped within the depths and the glory that he would feel once he saw him. With his marvelous and cruelly devised plan approaching its end, he could only bask in the triumph of his accomplishment. All that he had to unfortunately put Greg through certainly proved to reap a power affect on all involved, which was exactly what Calvin wanted.

Extending his foot out, he deftly made his way down the stairs and minded to expose every raw creek in the floor boards with his heavy soles; a fitting grand entrance for his terror-stricken captive. Hitting the concrete pavement, he allowed his echoing soles to blindly lead him toward the isolated whimpering noise inside of the black room. When he had approached his insignificant victim, he didn't need his eyes to show him that he was standing right over him. It was a divine sensation of power that Calvin had possessed; the ability to cause fear. What made that power majestic though was that he could feel his fear. This was a perfect portrayal of control in its finest essence.

Being surrounded by the darkness for the moment's time though, Calvin's eyes began to piece together certain shapes and he saw before him an intriguing visual. No longer wanting his vision impaired by the darkness, he made his way over to the light switch on the wall and flipped the switch, once again filling the room with a bleak gleam.

Turning on his heal, Calvin went to focus on Greg once again, but the sight before him had set an unexpected sense of concern. Seeing what Mark was able to string together with only a few yards of rope was surprising to Calvin, but it also had made his stomach turn. The demon inside of him could even sympathize and knew that the hogtie was just one step to far. He didn't even need to examine the restrains to know the tormenting strain that was ruthlessly being put on Greg's battered body.

Walking over to Greg, Calvin knelt down next to him and with pain in his eyes studied him and his numb limbs. Without feeling them, Calvin knew that his hands were cold but the nerves in his shoulders were on fire. Looking at his spine, he could even swear that it looked like it was quivering, as if the strain in his arched back was causing his back to expand. Then looking at his leg, Calvin couldn't even begin to imagine the pain that was mutilating ever fiber of ever nerve in his knee.

"Take a picture," Calvin then heard a weak and raspy voice choke out. Turning his attention to Greg, he could see him looking at him with a defeated expression in his eyes. "It'll last longed," he finished before he began gnawing on his gag again, trying to reposition the fabric so that it didn't dig into the corners of his mouth.

"Are you sure you would want me to do that Greg," Calvin asked, though it wasn't in a particularly toying way. "I would probably just send it to Nick and Catherine. Would you want them to see you like this?"

"I couldn't give a shit how I look," Greg quietly retorted through gritted teeth. "As long as they know I'm still alive, so then they can keep looking for me."

"You're really holding hope that they'll find you," Calvin inferred with a furrowed brow, puzzled to still see Greg with the same hopeful mind set.

"I don't exactly want to die here," he rightfully admitted with a knowing glance at his captor. "It's not like I can do anything to save myself," he then added with an immensely sorrow expression. "They're all I have."

Listening to Greg's words, Calvin hadn't expected that what he had said would affect him, but it did. Instantly it brought back memories of Aaron. There was a visit that had with is brother while he was in prison and he couldn't ignore the devastation in his spirit. Saying the same thing as Greg just did, he confessed with grief in his eyes that he didn't want to die in prison, that he couldn't save himself, and that he was all that Aaron had. Since the beginning, Calvin knew what Greg represented in this whole thing, but now, he couldn't ignore the observation that it was if Greg was now becoming Aaron.

Extending his hands forward, Calvin had moved them to the knotted cloth that was behind Greg's neck and began to untie his gag. The whole purpose behind him coming down to the basement was to talk to Greg, but after his comment, Calvin instantly wanted to know a lot more from him. "So, you've been down here for awhile. Have you just been sulking in despair as you face your reality or have you been piecing together the facts behind why of all places we're here?" he snidely asked as he transformed his emotions back to his brute aggressiveness, so not to show his true sense of vulnerability in this situation.

"You already explained to me why we're here," Greg offered as a response, though it wasn't much of an answer, but it wasn't like he wanted to partake in a conversation with the person who held his inevitable fate.

"As I recall, you didn't exactly catch onto the reference I was making before," Calvin reasoned. "Are you still just as confused as you have been throughout this whole ordeal or are you finally able to put some order behind this mayhem? Please Greg, enlighten me."

The tone behind his words was both encouraging and intriguing, and though Greg desperately wanted to resist further engaging Calvin in a conversation, there was the alluring possibility of finding out the truth behind Calvin's intentions, and those very answers were the key to him being able to die with his sanity. "This is the house where it all began," Greg started off saying. "Monica Brush claimed that a man by the name of Aaron Richards had raped her and prior to that, he had been stalking her for exactly three weeks. Aaron was then arrested for sexually assaulting a minor and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and the county paid Monica $50,000. Two weeks after being sentenced to prison, Aaron was bludgeoned to death with a crowbar after getting into a fight with his cell mate. It wasn't till after his death that people began to question if Aaron was actually innocent."

"And was Aaron innocent?" Calvin questioned with a stern, unforgiving stare.

"Monica never gave a confession," Greg explained with a lifeless, glazed over look in his eyes, his mind quickly realizing that this was happening to him because of what Monica did five years ago.

"So technically he's still guilty," Calvin then challenged in a snide tone.

"You're brother didn't deserve to have that happen to him," Greg added as he glanced up at Calvin with sympathetic expression in his eyes.

"How do you know he's my brother?"

"I remember the case file saying that Aaron's brother, Calvin Richards, had been questioned just before his arrest," he informed. "I may have a concussion from the countless times that you've used my head as your own personal punching bag, but I know that it isn't a coincidence that you just so happen to have the same first name as Aaron's brother," Greg added with a choked back chuckle, but then his face returned back to its serious expression as he looked up at Calvin and inferred, "You're avenging your brother's death."

"I wasn't going to let his death be in vain," he offered as an explanation with a blank stare in his eyes.

"Hurting me won't bring him back though," he suggested back, but it was then that he could feel his eyes beginning to water.

"I'm not trying to bring him back," Calvin quietly added with a very small voice as he repeated the phrase that he dreaded. If only there was a way that he could bring Aaron back, but in truth and science, it was unfortunately impossible and unfortunately, this seemed like the only alternative.

"Then what are you trying to accomplish by doing this to me?" Greg asked with a weak and weepy voice.

"Just because you rephrase the question doesn't mean you're going to get your answer," Calvin mused with a chuckle in his voice. "That's the question you've been asking since the very beginning Greg and it's the question that I've always denied you."

"So I assume that you're going to deny me that answer yet again," he bitterly inferred with an obligated sign of understanding.

"I unfortunately have to Greg," said Calvin in a voice that almost sounded sympathetic.

After hearing this, Greg simply noticed that this miserable conversation was at its end – or at least it was over for him as it wasn't a conversation he wanted to engage in any longer. Breaking his eye-contact from the man he came to know as his Master, Greg turned his head away from him and resumed to resting it on the cold concrete.

"Why do you keep ignoring me?" Calvin then asked with a bitter tone, finding it frustrating to see Greg turning his head away from him, but as he continued to see him remain still, he didn't know whether to be frustrated or amused. It was finally Greg's response that answered his predicament of emotions.

The feeling with almost completely foreign to him, practically alien, but in its own familiar way, it was a euphoric exploitation of a simple joy. For the first time, Greg enjoyed the verbal bask of a good, honest laugh.

Without question, his hopeless victim's response certainly raised one of Calvin's eyebrows and it certainly wasn't something that was going to go unquestioned. "Please tell me Sanders, what the hell is so funny or have you finally lost your mind?"

"Oh God Calvin, you have no idea how badly I wish I could ignore you!" Greg blurted out with a comical chuckle in his throat and a stupid smile on his split and cracked lips.

"And what's so funny about that?" Calvin then asked with a serious and almost irritated glare fixed at the seeming delusional man.

"You asked me why I keep ignoring you and I'm telling you that I only wish I could," he truthfully admitted. "I wish I could've tuned out every single God damn syllable that you've ever spoken to me. I've tried so hard to ignore you but I've realized that you can pretend as much as you want that you can't hear someone but it's the very words that you desperately tried to ignore that keep repeating themselves in your head."

"Why are you telling me this? You're practically giving away a secret. You're giving me power?" Calvin mused with a rather confused look in his eyes.

"There's nothing to give, when you've taken everything," Greg reasoned. "And I'll tell you a bigger secret," he then added with a cocky yet humble attitude. "All I hear anymore is your fuckin voice in my head and out of all the bull shit that I've heard I still can't piece together the full puzzle. Why you're doing this, I just found that out, but why I'm involved, what your intention is and what you plan to accomplish in this whole thing, I'm still just as confused as I was the moment that I was thrown into that van at the beginning of this whole thing."

"Why are you telling me this Greg?" Calvin once again repeated, not exactly understanding the means behind Greg's desire to tell him all of this.

"Because I want you to know that I'm not ignoring you," he replied. "I'm just choosing not to engage you in a conversation. I've realized that I keep thinking you're going to unveil your plot to me but you never do and then I just end up getting more lost in the logic of this complicated mess. I want to distance myself from this reality that I can't escape, and by getting to doing so, I get to pretend for a moment that I have control over this life that is no longer mine."

After listening to Greg's hopeless and delusional confession, it was disturbing to Calvin how carefully he had listened to him and how clearly he heard him. It was as if Greg's words were now mocking him as now he couldn't get his words out of his head. The reason behind everything that Greg said to him, he didn't know if it was to surrender or sovereign control or to just mentally toy with his mind. Regardless of the justification, Calvin knew that he wasn't in the current mental stability to want to continue with this conversation that he was struggling to have with Greg.

"Well I don't have to pretend that I have control and I can physically distance myself from your reality. Therefore I'm now the one choosing to no longer engage in this conversation," Calvin snidely commented as he began to walk toward the staircase.

"I just hope that you weren't able to ignore me," Greg solemnly added as he saw his captor begin to walk up the stairs.

Like so many times before, it was his captive's back-talking comments that had stopped him in his tracks, but this time, the effect was different. Turning around and making his way back down the staircase, Calvin walked back over toward Greg. "Sanders," he hollowly said, getting Greg's attention once more. "Would you like to know why you're here, why I'm doing this to you?"

"I would like to know, but for some reason, I don't think you're going to tell me," Greg knowingly suggested.

"Then I guess it would be a surprise to you if I said that I would tell you," Calvin then added with an intriguing tone.

"I would then ask what the condition would be? When you give something, you like to get something out of it too."

"Well, I can't argue against that, and I also can't argue against the fact that you're right," he replied. "I will tell you everything and answer any and every question that you have, but of course, on one condition."

"And what is you're one condition Calvin?"

"What did I tell you to remember before I let you talk to Nick?"

"That you want me to bring you the head of John the Baptist."

To the response, Calvin merely nodded his head with a wise smile before he made his way back over to the staircase to proceed with his departure once again. "When you bring me the head of John the Baptist, I will tell you everything."

Leaving Greg alone in the basement, he yet again was left to battle the mental complication behind another one of Calvin's riddles, but unfortunately this was a familiar one that he still had yet to figure out. The only difference was that it now held a defying purpose behind the task. The riddle at hand would grant a divine reward.

For some time, Greg had noticed the feel of Death's cold stare patiently waiting for his final breath. Death wasn't anything that he could lie about, saying that he wasn't terrified of it, but it was a concept he was becoming more familiar with. It was the act of death though that he was content with; the petrifying fear was result of dying without closure. Closure was the one thing that defined a man's sanity and it would drive him to the end without mercy.

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And that concludes Chapter 30. I know there wasn't any angst, but don't worry, Chapter 32 (I'm assuming), the explosion of angst that will occur will not be anything that you will be prepared for. It will blow your mind! It will leave you breathless! It will leave you screaming, crying, and/or choking to death on the account that you just can't breathe for the epicness is suffocating you! So, hopefully the lack of angst in this chapter will be made up for the ZANFANTABULOUSFUL ATTACK OF ANGST that awaits you on Chapter 32 :D!

Moving on now… The question that I have for you is do you think Calvin is going soft or do you think he is still filled with pure evil to the very core of his being? I've gotten a couple of comments about how some are seeing a sympathetic and almost "human" side to Calvin, so I'm curious to see what you guys think about this "change" in our merciless villain.

For alerting, thank you to purplehaz97, DestructoGrl, and Quiteavariety.

For adding TPMG to their favorites list, thank you to InsaneMembrane and DestructoGrl.

And for my reviews, many a thanks to you CSI011, imcrazyandiknowit, StarlitWave10, C.H.W.13, Tracy79, FindercluesIt946, crimescenelover, Anonymous, and Quiteavariety :D! Loved all the reviews guys and thank you all so much for your kind words. I'm glad you all enjoyed the little flashback and getting to see Greg get all defensive over Aaron (that part was a lot of fun to write),

FindercluesIt946: I saw the question that you left in the review and I want to answer it, but I was wondering if you would want to send me a private message and we could talk about it more one-on-one. It's just that these are just general authors notes and you kinda asked a specific question. I would love to talk to you though :D!

So yeah, there you have it… and now on to Chapter 31 :D!


	31. Memoirs and Memories

Hey everybody… so I've been missing for… well it looks like eight months now, and really, I just haven't had good luck with writing this chapter. Trust me when I say though that this chapter has been eating away at me. I've re-written this thing at least four times and in a million different ways and no matter what why I wrote it, I just wasn't satisfied. I was mainly struggling with transitioning into certain events that were critical, but I FINALLY have it figured out. So hopefully, chapter 32 will be coming quickly.

For the wait though, I really want to apologize… I was not expecting this update to take so long and I never wanted there to be a distance between posts that was longer than a month, and here I've left you guys waiting for eight. I still hope that I have all of my original readers and I hope that you keep following this to the end. Like I have said before and I will say it again and again and again… I WILL NOT abandon this story. I have put far too much time and effort into this not to see it through to the end and I truly mean that.

Few last things… In the midst of this painfully long wait, I've still kept my mind occupied with TPMG… That being said, I've created a cover for my story and I have to say that I really am rather proud of it. It wasn't all my work though… Seeming that I can't draw for shit, but I'm a bit of an expert at photoshop, I managed to create this demented little picture. A larger version can be seen in the picture gallery. And giving the credit to the appropriate illustrator, the original picture can be seen on deviantart, the illustrators name is The Sexy Whale and the picture is called Just A Puppet… if you type this info in, it should be the second link on Google. Other then that though, let me know what you guys think of it.

Also, as a fan of the Sims 3, I thought that it would be kind of fun if I took the time to create some of the houses that I have in my story. I thought that I have my visual of what the house looks like and I figured why not share that with you guys. Currently I have Monica's house completed and I am working on building Calvin's home at the moment, but I don't know where to post the pictures of them. I was thinking of making an account on tumblr or photobucket, but I'm not going to go through with this unless you guys are interested, so let me know alright.

Another piece of news, just because I haven't been working on this story a whole lot in my eight months of absence doesn't mean I haven't been keeping my writers mind busy… I won't start this until I'm finished with TPMG, but there is a strong possibility of a sequel in the works… But as I said, I want to finish this first.

Finally, I really want to thank a good friend of mine, Caleb, for all of his help and support with my story. He was the one who pretty much helped me out of this writer's block that I've been painfully stuck in and I want to thank him for listening to all of my babbling and blabbering and just being a supportive friend :).

Now, enough of my babbling and blabbering, I finally give you Chapter 31 of The Puppet Master's Game!

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Chapter 31: Memoirs and Memories

Since leaving the basement over an hour ago, Calvin had made his way into the living room and remained in this very position once he sat down on the couch. Everything from the two conversations that he had with his two prisoners both were slowly picking at his brain, but more from what Greg had said to him. It seemed like Greg had lost all means of sanity when it had come to that conversation. For once, Calvin was the one who was concerned by Greg's sensible riddle, where he was talking in circles and making perfect sense. Was the hopeless disaster trapped in the basement genuinely going insane or was he a humble genius? Slumping back into the comfort of the couch, he ran his fingers through his short hair and tried to let his mind wander free of his confusion.

"What's going on with you Calvin?" he heard Mark ask as he entered the living room from the kitchen. Walking over toward him, he sat down on the love seat that was sitting just adjacent to where Calvin was sitting on the couch.

"I'm fine," he answered simply, clearly trying to avoid the conversation about what was really bothering him.

Hearing a small cling on the coffee table, Calvin looked over to see Mark placing a turkey sandwich in front of him as he asked, "You hungry?"

"Hunger is the last thing on my mind," Calvin quietly said as he ignored the simple meal before him.

"But there is still something on your mind," Mark knowingly inferred. When Calvin remained silent though, it was then that he stopped beating around the bush and confronted his concern. "Listen man, you've been sitting here for over an hour now and you haven't said a damn thing. You only get like this when you've got a lot on your mind."

"I talked to Monica," Calvin firstly stated, but as he looked over at Mark, he saw an already displeased look, and the hesitantly continued his sentence, "and Greg."

Letting out a rough sigh of disappointment, Mark snapped back at Calvin as if he was genuinely offended. "Why did you do that?"

"Why does it matter?" he asked offensively.

"It matters because they both have obviously gotten to you!" he shouted back, clearly not choosing to look past Calvin's bull shit but confront it straight on.

"They didn't get to me," Calvin assured, though there was certainly a strong sense of denial in his voice.

"What did you want to talk to Monica for?"

"I just wanted to get a few answers out of her."

"Calvin, you and I both know that Monica is a conniving bitch who is just going to tell you what you want to hear."

"I'm aware of that Mark," he commented with a rather arrogant tone.

"What about Greg?" he then mused with an intriguing tone. "It's him that I'm worried about," he added immediately confusing Calvin as his head snapped around to look at him. "What did he say to you?" he asked with a very serious expression.

"Why are you worried about what Greg said to me?"

"You seemed fine when you walked out of Monica's room," Mark explained. "It was when you left the basement that you started getting quiet."

"He didn't say anything to me," Calvin tried to convince Mark. "I just wanted to see if he had figured out anything."

"Why do you care? We both know how we want this to end with Greg. Why does it matter to you what he knows?"

"Mark, I just wanted to talk to him okay!"

"Why do you want to talk to him though? You giving him the chance to talk, you're giving him power over you. That piece of shit may be at the end of his rope but I'm not 100% convinced that he's given up yet. Physically, he can't do a damn thing to help himself, but he'll still fight for his life and the best way for him to do that is to play a social game against you and your emotions."

Instantly Calvin thought back to what Greg had said to him in the basement and was slowly realizing that Mark may be right. "I just wanted to see what was going through Greg's mind."

"Okay, so tell me Calvin, what was going through Greg's mind? More importantly, did you like finding out what was going through Greg's mind?"

"Mark, you have nothing to worry about," he once again tried to assure Mark. "He sounds defeated."

"I thought that's what you wanted. You wanted to bring him to this point," he harshly stated with narrow and relentless eyes.

"I don't know what I want anymore," Calvin then quietly confessed, a sense of shame wavering in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Mark questioned severely as he held the same intimidating stare.

Calvin remained silent for a moment. "I don't think there is any fight left in him. We can't break him anymore then we already have. The only thing beyond what we've done is killing him, and I'm not going to do that."

"You're plan from the beginning was to finish this, and that's exactly what you're going to do! There is so much that can still be done and this isn't even over yet."

"He sounded defeated," he started off saying. "You think there is still fight, but I don't think so. Why carry out what we're doing against someone who is defeated."

"You're sympathizing with him… you feel bad for him."

"Mark, he's innocent in this. It's hard to do this to someone who doesn't deserve it."

"So what's changed from the moment we kidnapped him to where we are now?"

"Nothing's changed Mark."

"I beg to differ. You're very somber right now and you almost seem like you're about ready to say that you don't want to do this anymore."

This was something that Calvin had been actually been secretly considering, but it wasn't an idea that he wanted to run past Mark just yet. Calvin just remained silent, but had he known it, his silence had said it all.

"Do you not want to do this anymore?" Mark confront with a tone of anger steadily rising in his voice.

Calvin let out a heavy huff before he got up from the couch and started to walk down the hallway over toward the bathroom. Before he left Mark's sight though, he turned back and once again repeated the line that was beginning to become automatic to his friend. "I'm not bailing on this okay, I've just got a lot of shit going through my mind but I don't want to bother with it at the moment. For now, just let me do my fuckin thing okay." After that, he just left Mark sitting alone in the living room before he went into the bathroom.

Since Calvin had left her room over an hour ago, Monica hadn't done much other then shed a million tears. There was a brief moment when she tried to lift herself off the floor so that she could try to grab a pair of scissors that she kept over by her desk, but after trying again and again to get up, her legs finally gave out and her weakness in the situation attacked her. She felt as if there was absolutely nothing that she could do for herself.

It was then that the weight of what was currently happening to her really began to fall heavily on her shoulders. Leaning against her wall, a wave of emotions finally caught up with everything that she was feeling and she began to cry. A lot of what Calvin had said to her replayed its self over and over again in her mind, but it was then that his words finally began to sink into her mind. There was also this terrible thought that if all that was happening to her was happening because it was something that she actually deserved to have happen to her. It was then though that she realized it was more than just a consideration, but a reality. She began to have flashbacks of what she had done to Aaron and it quickly began to overwhelm her as she was forced to confront her past and the demons that came with it.

For a brief second, her tears were brought to a halt as Calvin's terribly familiar face entered her room, but shortly continued after seeing his discerning stare directed toward her. "Do you really thing that the tears are going to fool me?" Calvin commented as he slithered into her room. "You can't sympathize with something you despise."

Monica remained silent, as she figured that she didn't have anything to say to this monster. She knew where her fate lay, there was no need to bargain or manipulate it. It was something that she knew was set in stone and it was something that she could only accept.

"The least you could do is acknowledge me," he teased. "Must you remain so arrogant?"

"What do you want from me?"

"Do we really need to have this conversation again?"

"Calvin, I honestly don't know what you want," she confessed. Knowing why Calvin was here was obvious, but what his intentions were is what kept her in her state of confusion.

"I want you to pay for what you did to my brother."

"You don't think I already have!" she snapped back in anger as she felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"No, I don't!" Calvin immediately contradicted with a loathing stare. "You're living your precious day to day fuckin life and you're completely unfazed by the fact that you killed my brother and still live as arrogantly as you do."

"You don't know what I've been through!"

"You don't know what my brother went through because of you!"

"I'm perfectly aware of that he went through!"

"You can't think of anyone but yourself!"

"That's not true! I think about Aaron every day."

"Lying isn't going to save your ass this time."

"You know Calvin, fuck you! You have no idea what I've been through! It's not some stupid sob story okay, I genuinely feel absolutely awful about what I did to Aaron. After what I did, I really lost control of myself but since then, I've tried to right what I did wrong, and if you don't believe me, then let me show you."

"Monica, I don't give a shit about what you have to show me."

"I think you'd appreciate it."

"You want to know what I'd appreciate," he spoke with a sarcastic whit, preparing to comeback with a cruel yet cleaver retort.

"Something of your brother's?" Monica then humble suggested.

Calvin's besmirched face immediately diminished into a very sullen expression. "What do you have of Aaron's?" he demanded.

"I kept a few things," she replied.

"I was under the impression that you destroyed everything of your relationship."

"Not everything," she contradicted. "He wrote me letters."

"Letters from when?"

"When he was in prison."

"Why the fuck would he send you a letter and not me," he bitterly questioned, though to himself more than to Monica.

"I'm sure you visited him in prison. The letters were his only way of contacting me."

"Did you send one back?"

"I think you should read his letters first before you ask that."

Calvin only looked at Monica with a confused expression, but didn't ponder it further. "Why do you want to show them to me?"

"You say that I didn't give a shit about Aaron, but what I did still haunts me to this day."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I want to show you that I have changed."

"You think I care about the bitch I'm looking at now. I don't give a damn if you're Miss America, all I see when I look at you is the bitch who betrayed and killed my brother five years ago, and that's all I'll ever see of you. My opinion of you will never change."

"I don't care what you think of me. What I think of myself for what I did has already tainted and changed me enough as a person that I know I'm not the same person then who I was five years ago. I've grown from what I did, but it's still what I did five years ago that has made me into the person that I am today, and although I'm not ashamed of who I am, I'm ashamed of what I've done that's brought me here."

Calvin was silent for a moment. "Where are the letters?"

"They're in my closet, in an old grey shoe box in the far back left corner. There are more than just letters in there though, it's the evidence of our relationship."

Calvin walked over to her closet. Looking with his naked eye, he could not immediately see the shoe box, but after carelessly throwing piles upon piles of useless storage items onto the ground he finally found a grey box nuzzled in the back corner. Taking it down, he then walked over to her bed and sat down on it and slowly opened the box.

Looking inside, the first thing that he found were some clearly old pictures of Aaron, but immediately he's eyes started to fill with tears. Never had he seen these pictures of him before and seeing them now, it was almost as if he got to see he's brother for the first time, even for a brief moment, since he passed on. There was a good stack of about 15 pictures, all ones he had never seen before, and though some of them were also with Monica, he was just happy to see the old familiar face of his brother.

Setting the pictures carefully off to the side, the next thing he removed was an old tee shirt of Aaron's. He found it surprising that Monica had kept this item of his, but after removing it from the box, beyond the musky scent of an old shirt, he recognized the familiar scent of his brother faintly woven in the threads.

Like the pictures, he set the shirt off to the side, and then finally at the bottom of the box, he found what looked to be four envelopes and as he looked at the return address on them, he saw that they were sent from the prison Aaron was sentenced to. Looking at the dates, he found the first letter that Aaron had written to Monica and began to read the letters.

* * *

Since Calvin left, Greg was merely left to wallow in his own self pity in the basement. The room was pitch black which was what he felt bothered him more than anything else. There was a claustrophobic feeling that the darkness had given and being as restrained as he was made the atmosphere feel tighter as well. Trying to work through the pain, he tried to pull at his bonds in some shy, hope-driven sense that he could loosen ties. The only thing that he managed to do though was to irritate his strained muscles and his maimed knee.

Submitting to defeat once again, his limbs gave in to their relentless trap and he dropped his head to the cold concrete. The everlasting sense of weakness within him made him want to just want to simply cry, but that display of emotion was an effort that would summon energy that he just didn't have. Instead, he just continued to lay there and tried to make himself as invisible in that dark room as he could, hoping that he could just fade into the blackness and finally escape this nightmare.

As he saw the shadow of the staircase against the bleak concrete wall though, he knew he was still very present in this horrendous reality and began to dread the presence that would be joining him. At best he was hoping that it was going to be Nick or Catherine, but he had learned not to get too carried away with just ridiculous hopes and therefore let go of that possibility. The best case scenario though, it would be Monica coming down to save him, but he doubted that too as he figured that if that bitch got free, she wouldn't pay him a second thought. The last person that he wanted to see though was Mark, and that reason needed no explanation. A very, very dark, inhumane demon had possessed Mark with no mercy, and that was all that needed to be said.

Greg's eyes remained unmoved from a single stain that he saw of the concrete as he awaited the conformation of the presence making their way down the stair case. The apathy in the voice made it very obvious who it was though, but more importantly, who it wasn't; the nightmare shall continue.

"I think you'll be happy to hear that this ordeal is almost over," Mark cruel inferred as he casually made his way over toward the pathetic mess that brokenly lay on the floor.

"You saying that it's almost over won't make me trust it though," Greg tried to fearlessly oppose. "What will really determine my happiness will be my fate at the end of this ordeal."

"And how do you want to see your fate turn out?" he challenged in return to Greg's almost brave response.

"I want to see it through this," he simply stated.

"Wait, you're telling me you want to fuckin live after all of this?" Mark questioned with both a tone of mockery and shock.

"I just don't want to die," he quietly stated, but more to himself that anything, as if having him tell himself this will just further convince himself that he in fact doesn't want to die.

"You know, David didn't want to die either. But I guess he didn't really have much of a choice," he said practically spitting the words at Greg. "I would say that you were lucky that you just got a bullet to the knee after what you did, but in due time, you'll wish it had been a bullet to your brain," Mark threatened. Kneeling down next to Greg, he continued to threaten with a definite voice filled with loathing disgust, "Your saying now that you want to live, but just because this ordeal is almost over for you doesn't mean that the worst still has yet to occur. You'll only have the option to pray for death, and you'd sell your soul for that divine release."

"Why can't you just let me go?" Greg hopelessly asked, his voice wavering as he did so but mindful of his will to resist from shedding that first tear in front of his evil captor.

"Because _I'm_ not done having fun with you yet," he vaguely yet knowingly threatened.

"What are you going to do to me?" he fearfully asked as his body started to tremble.

"Well that's a surprise Greg. Just remember that Calvin will have his reasons for finishing you off, and so do I."

When Greg had talked to Calvin when he was down in the basement, there was a part of him that was both hoping and almost believing that he was getting to Calvin and possibly convincing him that hurting him isn't going to do anything for him, but Mark's definitive tone destroyed every thought of that. At this moment, Greg knew that he was to suffer and to suffer to no end and that there was no way that he was going to be able to avoid that definite reality. Losing all sense of the concept of strength, Greg couldn't hold back anything anymore. The first tear had finally surrendered and had fallen down his cheek, and shortly after, there were several others to follow.

"God you're such a fuckin pussy, you know that!" Mark spat back in repulsion. "You just, you're always resorting to crying now! Do you know how pathetic that makes you look?"

"Do you really think my greatest concern at the moment is what you think of me for crying?" Greg spat right back at Mark. "No, I'm more concerned over what you two are gonna do to me, especially you!"

"What do you think I'm going to do to you?"

"I don't know but I don't want to know. Mark I'm sorry that I killed your brother. That alone, I'm sorry, but Jesus fuckin Christ, what was I supposed to do!"

"You could have stayed in the fuckin chair!"

"I wasn't just going to sit there and not at least try to fight for my life!"

"Have you at all noticed that it's been your trying that's gotten you in the most trouble?"

"I'd rather take the scars and bruises from those efforts then to passively admit defeat to this whole thing and give up."

"But if you just admitted defeat, then you would have avoided a lot more trouble then what you've caused yourself. You know it wasn't a part of the plan for you to get shot dip-shit. If you just stayed in the chair, you wouldn't have a bullet in your fuckin leg and David would still be alive!"

"You know, David would also still be alive if you didn't choose to involve yourself in Calvin's vendetta against me and the crime lab!"

"I'm doing this for Calvin!"

"And what has he done for you? He made you abandon your brother!"

"I'm selflessly helping a friend. He came to me and my brother, and what were we going to say, no? We cared about Aaron too and we knew that tramp was setting him up. He presented an opportunity that we had to get back at you guys and we were going to take it."

"You could have rationalized the situation though instead of taking such drastic fuckin measures."

"To each their own decisions and their way of confronting a situation."

"Exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It was my decision to escape the chair and my way of confronting the situation was to defend myself."

"Still doesn't excuse the fact that you killed my brother."

"It still doesn't excuse the fact that you're involved with kidnapping a CSI whom which you've tortured and assaulted and are at the point where you're considering whether or not to kill me."

"I don't know if you've noticed this Sanders, but I've just been in the background this whole thing. I'm aware that I was just the brawn and trust me when I tell you that I was the least of your worries. But now you've got someone to concern yourself with."

"As if I wasn't terrified as to what Calvin is going to do to me."

"You're the least of his problems now though. He finally has the bitch that ultimately killed his brother trapped in a corner and you think he really gives a flying shit about what he's going to do to you? If you just stayed in the fuckin chair, you wouldn't have a bullet in your knee, David would still be alive, and you wouldn't have me to worry about. Instead, you would be sitting pretty down here just waiting for this whole thing to fizzle over."

"I don't really get the feeling that Calvin was just going to forget about this whole thing and let me go, if that's what you're getting at."

"On the contrary," Mark mused. "You know, I must take a second to applaud you. When you really think about this whole situation, you've really shown an impressive will power that I feel has gotten you this far. Even when you're as beat up and broken as you are, your inner fight still has yet to be vanquished."

"What do you mean?"

"You might not be able to save yourself physically, but your sure as hell know how to play the mental game. After Calvin came back upstairs from talking to you, you had his head so messed up that he was actually considering letting you go."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe it. Your big mouth got to him and although he won't admit, I know my friend well enough to draw the conclusion that he's having second thoughts and wants to let you go," Mark slyly explained. "But you want to know the best part."

Hearing Mark's all too menacing tone, Greg simply couldn't move.

"I'm not gonna let him let you go."

There was a look of pure horror that glossed over his hopeless eyes.

"Because you killed my brother, I now need to get my vengeance for my brother. I'm not going to let him let you go. I'll finish this for him and get my own revenge out of this situation if I need to. The end result will be you trapped in that closet, and left here to rot. All that happens in between, that's unwritten."

"Why can't you just let me go?" he asked with a timid voice.

"Because I want to see you suffer, and really suffer!"

At this point, Greg had come to realize that there was no negotiating beyond point. In cold blood, his fate had been set in stone, and there he saw no happiness. The only thing Greg could do of rationality was to cry.

"Again with the fuckin crying," Mark mocked, but when Greg ignored him, it started to further anger him. "You know, that's another way how Calvin and I are similar, we both can't stand it when we're ignored. Now, who would you not rather ignore?" Mark asked, as he slowly started to circle Greg. "Him," he slowly questioned as he started to run his boot along the side of Greg's torso, "Or me?" When Greg's didn't immediately give a response, Mark, without hesitance, brought back his foot and kicked Greg in his left knee, the one with his bullet wound. A torturous echo rang against the concrete walls and filled the air with glorious despair.

Kneeling down next to Greg, he grabbed the boy's hair by his roots and made him look up at him, mindlessly staining his neck in an awkward and indeed painful way. "I'd like an answer Greg, but I think you'd benefit more from giving me one."

"I won't ignore you," he gasped out as another tear trickled down the side of his face.

"Good, that's what I thought," Mark hissed with a dirty smile. "You know, I think it's time to change positions now," he simply suggested as he began to slowly roll Greg over so that he would be lying on his back.

His arms were tucked under his body and laying flat against the concrete, and his legs that were still closely bound to his wrists were forced under with him. The complication with that was that he couldn't get his feet to roll under his body, so he was unfortunately forced into a position where he was only able to stand and support his weight on the tips of his toes. It was the only position that his body was allowed to bend in and by all means it was excruciating. There was once again a pull that painfully stretched throughout his back and along with that, with his legs forced to support weight that he couldn't even tolerate, there was a shooting pain that spread throughout his thighs that made them feel as if they were on fire. Then there was the agony that came with his bullet wound.

If it wasn't for Mark supporting his body, Greg would have probably fallen over onto his side, which was exactly what Greg wanted so to give a reprieve on his already tortured limbs, but Mark wouldn't let go. Instead, he held onto him tight and just studied him and his reactions. Quickly his legs began to tremble and his shoulders felt like they were about ready to be pulled out of their sockets. The strain in his feet, especially his toes, was almost unbearable and though he tried to place his feet flat on the ground, his strict binds nor pain-stricken muscles wouldn't allow it.

"You comfortable?" Mark knowingly teased after feeling Greg's limbs struggling against this new position. Then after seeing Greg shake his head no, another thick, disgusting smile spread across Mark's face. "Well, that's the point, don't want you getting too comfortable now do we; might send the wrong idea that I don't want you to suffer."

"Mark… please," Greg tried to beg, but a sob got caught in his throat.

"Now, I think we have some time before Calvin will make his return back down here, which means that you and I can have some alone time together." After looking at Greg for a moment, his hand slowly began to run up the length of his thigh and toward the last place he wanted Mark's slimy hands touching him.

Greg's eyes instantly flashed with horror and for a brief moment, he was able to completely ignore the shooting pain in his legs. With all his might, he tried to wriggle out of Mark's hold that he had held with a single hand on his torso, but with his bonds restricting all movement, there wasn't anything that Greg could do. "Please… don't," Greg helplessly begged as he let out a stifled cry.

Reaching for the cloth that was sitting just off to the side that he had used to gag Greg earlier, Mark grabbed it and balled the fabric up in his hands. Instantly, he went to put it in Greg's mouth, but like before, his captive wouldn't open his mouth. "Greg, do I really need to threaten you right now for you to just open your mouth. You know regardless you're going to be silenced, so why fight it?"

Instantly, passively and shamefully, Greg opened his mouth and the thick cloth was shoved into his mouth and at the same time, Mark had also pushed his hand over his mouth. "Can't have the neighbors hear you now can we," he almost teased and at the same time, with a very discerning look that set what was going to happen in stone, Mark began to unbutton his jeans.

It was tormenting how there was nothing that he could do to escape Mark. Every pull and tug against a limb was restricted and Greg simply couldn't move. He tried once to buck his hips away from Mark's reach, but the splitting pain that erupted in both his leg and knee quickly seized those efforts. Greg could only watch in horror at what was about to unfold and only hope that Calvin would come down soon and end this torment.

Then all of a sudden Mark's hand stopped, and Greg simply remained frozen in his bonds. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and saw that Mark was actually leaving the room and heading up the stairs. Greg didn't want to start feeling too at ease, but he was secretly praying that nothing else beyond this minor taunting would take place, but when he saw Mark returning back down the stair case holding now a small duffle bag and a kitchen knife, this didn't exactly set Greg's heart at ease.

At first, Mark had walked right past Greg and over toward the other end of the room, kind of over where the mystery door was. Mark had dropped the bag onto the floor, and Greg immediately noticed how there was a loud and heavy CLINK as the bag had been weighted down to the concrete floor. It was then that he saw Mark open the bag and casually disperse it contents. Yards upon yards of chains were being endlessly pulled from the bag and out with it, tangled in the manacles were a set of handcuffs. There was then a blue cylinder can with a curves nozzle on the end of it that Mark took out of the bag as well, and Greg had assumed that it was a blow torch. Mark had then dumped the rest of the contents from the bag and out rolled a few things of different tape and as well as some padlocks. Greg tried his absolute best to remain unfazed by what he was seeing, but beneath his trembling skin, his heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute.

Mark had then taken the chain and had attacked it to one of the hooks that was on one of the wooden beams. With the other end of the chain, Greg saw Mark swinging it up over something, and as he looked up at the ceiling, he had noticed that there were rafters running along the length of the room. Once Mark had managed to toss the chain over one of the rafters, the other end just hauntingly dangled before him. Mark then gave two strong tugs against the chain to see the strength that it could bare, and pleased with the result, turned and gave Greg a wicked smile.

"Alright, now back to what we were doing before," Mark cruel suggested as he picked up his knife and made his way over to Greg once more. As he approached him, Mark could see how uncomfortable that his presence had made his victim, especially now with the knife in hand. Moving over by his side and kneeling down next to Greg, he first carelessly shoved the bound man's body so that he was to be lying on his side. The effort though wasn't anything of a gentle nature though and the dull groan that filled around the cloth in his mouth made that very clear. It was then that he took a firm hold of the knife and began at his efforts.

"Mmrk, pllmph, mmm," Greg tried to plead beneath the very filling cloth that obstructed his mouth. Feeling the blade of the knife then graze against his hand, fearing the worst for what his malicious sadist was about to do, Greg clamped his eyes shut and tensed his whole body as he prepared for what was to occur. What he felt though, was something rather, unexpected. The tight strain against his shoulders greatly reduced and he was finally able to normally bend his body in the proper direction. Instantly, Greg had realized that Mark had at least undone the ropes that had held him in that vicious hogtie.

Greg turned to look at his captor with a look of confusion and disbelief in his eyes, not fully understanding why he had now left him in a more comfortable position, but the look he received back wasn't anything that was too assuring of a cautious gesture. "Don't get too comfortable yet," Mark warily suggested. "Trust me when I say that in due time, you'll be wishing you were still left to wallow in pain in that simple hogtie."

Immediately following his discerning words, Mark grabbed onto one of Greg's biceps and began to drag him over toward the dangling chain that he had just set up. Once Greg realized this, he began to struggle and thrash his body as much as his aching limbs would allow him to. Although his body was broken and his every joint and muscle was screaming in protest to his actions, Greg had no idea what that chain was going to be used for, but he sure as hell didn't want to find out.

"It's cute when you struggle. Just seeing you make such an effort when we all know that it's not going to do a damn thing," Mark mercilessly mocked. There was a look of defiance in Greg's eyes, but he saw what his own smoldering stare did as he watched Greg's almost brave sense simply wither away. Dropping Greg to the ground, he then walked over to grab the pair of handcuffs on the floor as well as one of the padlocks. As he opened the padlock, he had then looped one of the single chains on the cuffs through the padlock and had looped the final link of the length of chain dangling from the rafter through the chain as well.

As he opened the padlock, Mark had then looped the padlock through both a single chain on the cuffs and the final link of the length of chain dangling from the rafter and had attached them together as he closed the padlock. Releasing the handcuffs from his grasp, he left them to dangle there as he turned his attention back towards Greg.

When Mark had dropped him to the ground, immediately Greg tried to put some distance between him and captor, but moving in any way, shape or form was an absolutely excruciating effort, especially when it came to his knee. Greg tried to scoot his body backwards, but with his legs still bound, although he was using his right leg to push, the left leg was forced to bend with it, and it was a pain that he just couldn't tolerate. He had been too distracted to see what Mark was doing though, but seeing Mark approach him again and then drag him up right next to that dangling chain with now the handcuffs attached to it, it was then that he felt every last shrivel of strength within him effortlessly crumble into a million pieces. Whatever Mark had in mind, there was absolutely no escaping it.

The knife had made its appearance again as Mark swiftly cut the ropes free from his ankles. "Alright, now get on your fuckin knees," he was then ordered. "You can either do it on your own or I can assist you, but trust me, I won't be as cautious of your busted knee."

Immediately following the order, Greg tried to position himself so that he was able to somewhat comfortably rest on his knees. It was an awkward position though, as his left leg was maneuvered off to the side and he solely put all of his weight on his right knee and leg, but he at least was able to appease to Mark's order. After this, he had then felt the cold entrapment of two metal clasps encircling his wrists and he knew then that Mark had attached the handcuffs and then shortly after removing the ropes binding his wrists.

Stepping away to admire his tortured victim, it was a sight he all too longingly took in. There was a sense of pride that he felt seeing the miserable expression on his face, but the look of confusion in his eyes. Seeing Greg observe the chain above him and seeing him tug on it, it had filled Mark with a twisted sense of glee within. "Curious?" Mark simply asked, as he took a step forward again toward Greg. Taking the chain that was hooked on the beam, he gently tugged against it which had made Greg's wrists rise behind him ever so slightly.

It was that pull upwards that he felt on his wrists that he was finally able to piece together what exactly this chain was meant for. As he felt Mark continue to merely tug at his wrists, Greg began fighting that pull and stretched his arms downward as far as he could. It didn't do a damn thing though; if anything it only encouraged Mark. As Greg looked to his sadist again, he had wished that he hadn't. Seeing both of his hands wrap around the chain with a visible taut strength, Greg knew exactly what he was going to do, especially when the countdown began.

Three…

Greg tried to look at Mark with desperate, heart-wrenching, pleading eyes, as if this would be the time when he would finally reach the sense of sanity that could potentially be inside of this human being…

Two…

But then Greg remembered of the demon that had ultimately possessed him, and there was never a winnable negation with the devil. All that was left inside of Mark was pure evil and it made his blood boil to its very core…

One…

And this was it. He could feel his soul dying inside of him as he realized that he was now entering the belly of the beast, the inner circle of hell, the point of no return. This was the final threshold of this whole ordeal and he could only pray that he would survive. Tears that unknowingly were forming in his eyes began to trickle down his face as he tried to prepare himself for that vicious…

YANK!

* * *

Silence filled the room, but what could be heard were the tears falling from Calvin's cheeks and onto the paper that was covered with Aaron's poetic, heart-wrenching words. Carefully watching Calvin's display of raw emotions, Monica was simply brought back to the number of times that she had read his letters. Studying Calvin's expression, she knew what parts in the letter that he had reached as having read his letters a countless number of times, she knew what parts had triggered the same reactions. There were even a few moment when she saw Calvin drop his head into his hands and silently bawl into them, something she had done many times, though not so silently.

There was one part in the fourth letter that really had concerned her though, and she immediately knew when Calvin had reached that part in the letter. Aaron had said that he knew that his brother would do everything in his power to save him and to try and avenge what she had done to him. Whether that threat was meant to be fulfilled in his life or in death, it was certainly being taken to action now. The other night when she had been attacked, she, in the moment, had no idea that it was Calvin that sought out to avenge Aaron. When she was informed of this likely possibility, never for a second did she doubt that it was Calvin who had raped her. From the night when the vengeance began to where they were now, it was as if Aaron's letter was a prophecy that had clearly been foretold, and she knew that it would follow through; there was just no telling when. Today was the day though.

"Even Aaron knew that I was going to avenge his death. I just told him that I would do everything in my power to make this situation right, but he knew that I would literally do whatever it took."

"I don't know if he thought you would go as far as to hurt someone else though."

"I'm sure he understands why I have to do this to Greg though, it's you he's probably most proud to be seeing me take care of. He really resents you."

"I know," she simply stated.

"How can you live with yourself?" Calvin asked once again with disgust thick in his throat. "You know, if I were you, I would have tried to off myself years ago."

At these words Monica began to cry.

"Regretting you didn't," Calvin heartlessly quipped with a conceited laugh.

"There is only one thing that I regret and that's this whole thing of setting Aaron up and sending him to prison. I loved him with all of my heart and how do I show that? I set him up and send him to prison where he ended up getting bludgeoned to death. If you don't think I live day to day regretting what I did, do you think I would of tried to kill myself?"

"You tried to kill yourself?"

"Guess you didn't notice the scars as you were tapping my wrists behind my back," she quietly explained as she grimaced at the memory that brought her to taking such a drastic measure such as ending her life.

"The reason why you probably couldn't kill yourself though was because Aaron wouldn't let it happen. He wanted to see that I get my hands on you and make you suffer."

"You know, I wouldn't put that thought past me for a second."

"And why's that?"

"Since his death, I have then said to myself that it would be a miracle if I manage to die of a normal cause like old age. If I were to die before then, it would be because of what I did to Aaron."

"You were expecting this day then?"

"It was only a matter of time before my demons confronted me. I've put them to rest for the time being but they still exist."

Calvin was silently observing Monica for a minute before he spoke. "Why were you so arrogant before?"

Knowing exactly what Calvin was referring to, she immediately and truthfully answered. "You brought back a large event from my past and I had my way of confronting it and I wasn't fully prepared to confront it again in its expected, more direct approach. Instead, I returned to old habits and got defensive. This whole thing has been like my little secret, but it's out in the open now and I can't hide it any more. It was then that I took a new approach and it was then that I decided to put my demons to rest."

"And how did you do that?"

"I want to show you something else," she stated to which Calvin merely replied, "Alright."

"Open my bedside drawer and inside, in the far back, you'll find one last letter. This is a letter that I wrote to Aaron. I wrote after he was killed though but I still think you should read it," Monica explained.

Like she had instructed, Calvin opened the top drawer to her bed side table and found the worn looking letter at the back of the drawer. Instantly Calvin was under the impression that Monica had read this countless times. As he opened it, before he even began to read it, he noticed the number of tear stains covering the page.

When Calvin looked at the first page of the letter that Monica had written to his brother, it was a page of its own, as if a prologue to the letter. Taking a deep breath, he began to read the first part of her confession.

_Even more than I feel like I owe you this letter, I feel like I owe you this explanation. Of the four letters that I received from you, never once did I send you one back offering the explanation for my actions that you begged for. I tried and tried again to ignore your letters, but every time I received a new one, I would read it again a million times over and over. Although your words were filled with hate and disgust, it was still a piece of you that I had to hold on to, and it filled the bleak void that I had in my heart that missed you. I know that I owed you the same sense of comfort -and in your case closure– especially after being confined to a prison cell, but there was one thing that held me back from honoring your simple request. I warn you, this explanation really evokes the inner core of my selfishness and it's something that I'm very ashamed to admit as it's cowardly and utterly pathetic of me. As of the day that I set you up, I have been knowingly digging my own grave and by the time you were sent to prison, I had already dug a good six feet below the surface. If I had sent you a letter while you were in prison offering an explanation, without a doubt you would have shown it to someone and then there would have been questions asked that would have immediately raised the theory of, "Did Monica Brush set up Aaron Richards?" You and I both clearly know the truth, but it wasn't a truth I was ready to confront. I decided that I needed to protect myself and take this secret to my grave with me. I'm aware that it was a very selfish thing of me to do –as was this whole thing- but with having dug my own grave, I didn't see away of being able to dig myself out. As of now though, I have now found the first step in putting my demons to rest. With writing you this letter, it's because I want to seek some closure in my life. I know that this is something that I don't deserve, but I hope that one day, I'll be able to earn it._

After reading just this brief monologue, it hadn't set a rather accepting mood for Calvin. It had filled him with a thick slimy hate in his gut after reading in black and white the truth behind Monica's selfishness, but before raising a further level of aggression, he took another deep breath and moved on to reading the letter its self.

_Dear Aaron, _

_I know with me writing you this letter, it's too late, and you'll never get the chance to read it. After trying to ignore the letters that you sent to me, I wasn't ready to face what I had done and except the regret that I had felt. I tried to push the problem away into the tiny back corner of my mind that I never visit, but by doing that, I was only making the problem grow. Taking to heart a few wise words though, I finally realized that with what you had said in your letters, you were right; the least that I owed you was an explanation. I am writing this letter to put all my apologies into an essay of love and regret. I know that regardless of the tortures that I put you through, you're resting in a better place, but I still want to grant you the divine senses of closure that I know you rightfully deserve. With this being the ending of your existence, I want to put this whole situation to rest. One needs to remove all the demons from their past before one can move on. I've realized now that I owe you this._

_ I figured that the best way to start with confronting the demons would be to start from the beginning. Our relationship was something that was right between us. Where I believed it all started was when we met. The connection that formed between the two of us was electric and irresistible and it wasn't something that I was going to give up because of on age difference. I believe that age is just a number and as you know me, I am an old soul and it was the old soul of mine that tied into yours so effortlessly. As it all started when we met, it also all started with a lie. When you thought I was just about to turn 19 in truth, I was actually just about to turn 15, but what stands out more than the age its self is the fact that I was indeed a minor. I had a feeling that you wouldn't approve of our relationship knowing the age difference between us, but when I realized how perfect we were for each other, I didn't want to spoil the illusion. It was wrong to of lied, but I believe it would have been a worse crime to end what we had. A worse crime unfortunately did occur though._

_ I'm not placing blame on this situation on anyone but myself. I was not the source though, but I still had the power over the situation, and that's where I made my biggest mistake. I'm sure you remember Cory as he was a friend of mine that I had frequently talked about. I remember you saying to me one night when we were in bed that you thought Cory had a thing for me, but I didn't pay any mind to the comment. In truth though, I knew that Cory had more than just a thing for me; he confessed that he loved me. Tirelessly, he tried to make it to where I felt the same way about him, but I was in love with you. When he's actions weren't giving him the results that he wanted, he tried a new approach. The plan to set you up was brought up one day when Cory and I were hanging out. Out of all my friends, he was the only one to know of the secret about my age that I was keeping from you. The idea started as a hypothetical scenario, but with a little sweet talk and convincing, Cory had me believing that this was something that we could pull off. _

_ The day that you were sent to prison, I almost couldn't believe that we had managed to pull it off. I literally could not believe it. I was in this frozen state of shock, but I realize now that it was because I couldn't believe what I had just done to you. I thought that I was going to be able to carry on with my life with Cory, but this whole ordeal was the last shrivel of control that I had over anything in my life. I decided to go through with it, but it completely took over my existence. _

_I left you, the love of my life, for Cory, a piece of shit who spits in my face whenever I even begin to consider the possibility that I even mean a damn thing in this miserable existence of mine that I shamefully call life. It was a blessing in disguise that I unknowingly had been praying for the day that Cory was killed by that drunk driver. When it happened though, I actually didn't know whether or not I was happy or sad about it. I wanted to think that it was you answering a prayer for me, but I then reminded myself of what I did to you. I figured why would you want to do anything to help me and that you would want to see me miserable for the rest of my life._

_I want to think that you did that for me. I still feel you watching me, even as I'm writing this letter, but I wish I could have that feeling and know you were watching over me with the best intentions in mind. Instead, I feel your cold stare and the loathing hate that you have for me weighing down on my shoulders. I'm hoping that with writing this letter, it will relieve some of that weight, but I have a feeling that that's just wishful thinking. I know I don't deserve that kind of comfort, not after what I did to you. _

_With you left to remain alone for the rest of your life, you would want to see me alone for the rest of mine. I hit my lowest point after Cory died. I never felt more alone. I turned in the love of my life for blood money and left you for a horrible human being who was then killed. I felt that I was never meant to love again and coming to this conclusion, I figured that there was nothing left for me in this life. Trapped in a very dismal delusion and having such a bleak outlook on life, I fell into a massive depression. A few weeks ago, I actually tried to kill myself. In my altered state of reality, I was hoping that by getting to move on into the next world, I'd get to see you. I know that that will never happen though. You're in the holy garden and resting in a beautiful place that you deserve to live the rest of your immortal life, but me, for what I did to you, the love of my life, I don't deserve that kind of happiness._

_In the end, more than anything, I hope that I can do what I did justice. Instead of keeping my regrets in the back of my mind, I want to keep what I wrote in this letter there. It will be as a reminder and a guide. I want it to teach me to do the right thing in life and to mend all my demons. I also hope this letter gets to you safely and that you see the truth and love beyond the hurt. I decided I needed to take it one day at a time and hopefully I can do enough righteousness in my life to be able to once again see you. One final thing that I have to say and this is still one thing that I tell myself every day, and I only wish that I could hear it back from you, but more than anything in this world, I love you Aaron. _

_Sincerely, _

_Monica Brush _

Monica knew the moment when Calvin had finished reading the letter, and before he had a chance to speak, Monica wanted to say what she had to say first. "Calvin, I know it's hard for you to believe but I have changed. After his death, I tried to give myself closure on this situation. That's why I wrote Aaron this letter."

"So you just moved on with your life," he said, but with a surprising sense of disgust in his voice.

"Calvin, there was nothing else I could do. I've confronted my regret, hell I even tried to kill myself."

"You could have turned yourself in."

"I could have, and once again, I'll admit, it's selfish and inconsiderate of me to not want to turn myself in but I won't."

"You know if you turned yourself in then this wouldn't be happening to Greg. Even if we forget this whole thing for two god damn seconds, Greg would be all fine and dandy if you had the decency to turn yourself in," Calvin spat back. "Let me ask you this, what if Aaron was never killed, what if he was still locked up, what would you of done?"

"I have no idea," she honestly and regretfully admitted as tears started to form in her eyes again.

"For some reason I have an idea and it involves you still sitting on your pretty ass thinking you have the right to live freely while an innocent man rots in prison. I actually think you would have remained an equally selfish bitch as you were when you first turned him in. If he never died, you never would have written that letter, you probably would have never tried to kill yourself as you wouldn't have felt guilty enough for what you've done."

"Calvin, I'm sorry," she honestly confessed to him as tears began to now stream down her face.

"Do you really think that means anything to me? You're no longer arrogant but you're still the same self centered bitch that you've always been."

After hearing Calvin this time, she for once was at an absolute loss for words. There was absolutely no way that she could defend herself.

"Do you even realize what this has done to Greg, have you really considered that?"

"I think you should apologize to him, unless you think you haven't done a damn thing wrong, in that case then why would you feel that you need to justify yourself to him right. Let me ask you this Monica, with all that's been said and done, in the end, do you really think that you deserve to live over him?"

Monica remained silent, not feeling that she needed to justify herself to anyone at the moment, though there was one thing that she wanted to say to Greg.

"The reality of the situation had left you speechless. Did you really think that showing me those letters was going to change a damn thing? You think that's going to prove that you've changed?"

"I don't need to prove anything to you."

"No, I think you do. If you want to live past today, you need to convince me why you think you deserve to live over Greg.

"What?" Monica snapped back with an unbelievable expression of confusion in her eyes.

"You heard me, but do you really think you have a case against an innocent man?" Calvin then got up from the bed and removed his pocket knife and swiftly removed the tape from Monica's legs before hoisting her up from the ground and leading her outside and toward the basement within her shed.

Walking down into the basement, it was as if all of his rage toward Monica had never even existed within him, as it had been replaced by the ghastly display before him. "Mark, what the fuck are you doing?" Calvin shouted at Mark, his tone clearly demanding and explanation for the position that Greg was currently in.

"I was just getting him ready," Mark tried to explain but was cautious to Calvin's tone.

Calvin had walked over toward Greg, still dragging Monica behind him, and carefully observed Greg and the painful position that he had been strung up in. Painfully, he was forced to his knees and had no other option but to put all of his weight on them as his arms were held upwards a good three to four feet from the ground, creating a rather agonizing strappado.

"There's no need for this, we're not ready yet. Put his arms down, now," he ordered with a very stern stare and a slight hint of anger in his voice. Immediately after the order, though the action came with a rather displeased huff, Mark still abided by his order and had slowly dropped the length of the chain and lowered Greg's arm so that they were able to rest against his back once again.

The burn in his shoulder blades took a minute to subside, but once the pain finally started to melt away, that simple release of tension on his limbs had overwhelmed Greg and he unknowingly had let out a low groan as the sensation felt sublime. Looking up at Calvin, he controlled his tears and his tongue, as not only did he not want to seem as weak as he felt, but he didn't want to get too cocky with his position with Calvin. At the moment, he wanted to thank Calvin for this human gesture, but he didn't want him to think that he was putting all of his faith in this man who, although kidnapped him, was showing to be his only ally.

Having made eye contact with Greg, it was a weird moment for Calvin. He didn't fully understand why he felt this way but beyond the confusion, there was something that he knew and that was that he was feeling immensely sympathetic toward Greg and the position that he was in.

"Mark, did you gag him again?" Calvin asked as he noticed the black substance filling Greg's mouth.

"Yeah, he was screaming," Mark tried to explain once again after seeing the disapproving glare in Calvin's eyes.

"Why was he screaming?" he accusingly asked with a bitter look in his eyes.

"Because," he started to say as he tried to summon up some excuse, but his words had gotten caught in his throat.

"I thought I told you not to mess with him anymore," Calvin merely started, knowingly reminding Mark.

"You just said to tie him up."

Calvin was silent for a moment, now remembering that this was in fact what he had told Mark to begin with, but now he had wished that he had aired on the safe side and had told him not to further mess with Greg. With how Greg had been strung up wasn't anything he was prepared to see just yet and it had truly disturbed him to his very core. Moving on from this awkward discovery, he returned to taking control over his untrustworthy assistant. "Mark, just take the gag out and leave him alone," he then ordered, and once again, Mark was forced to obey the current Master of this ordeal.

"Now, back to my business," Calvin casually insinuated. Dropping Monica to the floor just a couple of feet away from Greg, he proceeded to say, "Monica needs to have a talk with you, and it's a matter of her life, and your death."

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So… chapter 31… I hope the wait was worth it :)

Once again, a question regarding Monica, but how are you guys viewing her now. Did her story appeal to your soft said or do you still see her with the same eyes that Calvin does, as the same self centered ignorant bitch?

Now, to begin my thanks…

For Alerting, thank you to Hobbsy3, babylov969, SnapeFreak4everrr, Silverfox893, Bozz28, Chip D, Kaydera, Avirra, peeta12321, and Lil Badger 101.

For Favoriting, thank you Hobbsy3, SnapeFreak4everrr, Quietavariety, TerraeStarDragon88, and peeta12321.

And for reviewing, thank you to C.H.W.13, DestructoGirl, Quiteavariety, Hobbsy3, crimescenelover, Tracy79, SnapeFreak4everrr, Guest, Ur Biggest Fan, Anonymous, epica89, Nimue Tsuki, 9Laura8, and petta12321. Thank you guys a million times for showing your support and expressing your love for my story. Please, keep up the reviews as I need to know now more than ever that my fans are still out there supporting me.

So that's all I have to say for now. Reviews will go a long wasy this time as I'd love to see who out there is still with me and this story till the very end. Anyways, love all you guys, readers, alerters, favoriters, reviewers, just every one… Thank you for all of your support since the beginning of this and I hope to see you through with me to the end :)!


	32. A Surrogates Struggle With Reality

Well, this chapter really came along a lot more smoothly then the last one. Still sorry about the month wait, but I guess it's really no comparison to the eight months you had to wait before. Anyways, so with Chapter 32, I really took a different route here with the characters, mainly toward the end and I really hope you guys like it. I do and I think it complements the moment nicely, but let me know what you guys think.

Other than that, please enjoy chapter 32 and once again, Caleb, thank you for your help.

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Chapter 32: A Surrogates Struggle With Reality

An almost angered glare took over Greg's hopeless and lifeless eyes as he quickly assumed that what he was hearing was that Monica felt as if she deserved to live over him. After all that he had been through, after every punch, kick, beating, and every emotionally traumatizing moment that he's had to endure as an innocent victim, to hear that Monica felt like her life was more deserved then his had made his blood boil. If this was to be a debate for a life and a fight to the death, he was going to be sure to destroy her. "Are you telling me that she feels that she deserves to live over me?"

"Am taking that you don't feel the same way," Calvin questioned in a taunting way, knowing that the play in his voice was certainly dig into Greg's skin.

"I'm innocent," he boldly stated through gritted teeth. "Ultimately, you're the one doing this to me!" he then screamed as he shot a death glare at Monica.

"Well Monica," he ushered in a way as if he was hosting this debate as if it was a televised event, "defend yourself."

Feeling like everyone was gaining up on her, it slowly started to break her spirit until it was crumbling apart inside of her. Looking around her, with tears in her eyes, she tried to look at the men around her in some hope that someone would sympathize with her, but she couldn't really bring herself to look at either Calvin or Mark, which left Greg. With tears continuing to form in her eyes, she looked to Greg in hopes that he would be able to relate, but seeing a very menacing stare shot back at her left her feeling very broken and utterly alone. Defeated, she turned away from Greg and dropped her head as she continued to cry to herself.

"Really!" Greg shouted back in anger. "You have nothing to say to me, really?"

"You know what, I'm not going to be forced to debate for my life just because Calvin wants me to. I know where I stand with everything and there is something that I want to say to you, but I'm not going to do it because Calvin wants me to defend my existence over yours," she shouted right back at Greg.

"Is that really your excuse? You can't have a conversation with me just because you feel Calvin is making you, although there is something you want to say to me, you won't because once again, it's like Calvin is making you," he bitterly mocked, finding Monica's attitude to be rather selfish and conceited. "You know, if you have something that you want to say to me, then you should say it."

"Greg, I have nothing that I want to say to you, other then I'm sorry," she shouted back with a very somber expression and a deep look of regret beneath her eyes.

"What do you mean you're sorry?" Greg quizzically questioned, unsure of what this apology really was standing for and whether it was just a ploy to play on pity or a legitimate confession of remorse. When he saw Monica remain to sit there though in silence, it finally began to anger Greg. "Really, you're just going to sit there? Listen to me, because of you I've been kidnapped, beaten, kicked, punched, violated, humiliated, degraded, and that barely sums up half of what all I've experienced, and one again, this has all happened to me because of you, and all that you can say is "I'm sorry"? You know, sorry is just a word and frankly, coming from you, it doesn't mean a damn thing. What I'd appreciate is if you actually tried to justify your apology."

"I want to apologize to you, and actually apologize, but I'm not saying a damn thing in front of him," she said looking up at Calvin. "You want me to justify my existence over his, but I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to defend my life over his because you want me to, especially when in this circumstance, I don't deserve to live over him."

"So you don't want to live past today?" Calvin basically conjured up with a rather smug expression on his face, not amused by the fact that it seemed Monica was almost trying to look like the selfless hero now.

"What do you think the answer is," she remarked right back in a snide tone. "Of course I want to live, but that doesn't seem to be the option that you're giving us."

"I'm just doing what's fair, in fact more than," he suggested. "I at least have the heart to give you a fighting chance, which is more then what you did for my brother."

"Then what are you giving me?" Greg then chimed in with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused by Greg's question.

"You're giving Monica a chance by making her defend her life over mine," he firstly explained. "What do I have to defend? You, me, we all know I'm innocent, so what am I being given a chance for?" he asked, but when Calvin's tied tongue presented its self within his silence, he then challenged this daring question. "I mean are you really going to kill me?"

"You don't deserve that answer," he quickly and firmly responded with a clenched jaw, a furrowed brow, and a cold, relentless stare.

"Like how I don't deserve to be a part of this, to be your insignificant fuckin puppet?" he proceeded to challenge. As the tongue of Calvin Richards remained tied and silent and hearing nothing more than his unsteady, stifled breaths, Greg finally continued his bold and figuratively suicidal interrogation of his kidnapper's motives and made one final statement. "You know, if you kill me, then you're no better than Monica."

At first, Calvin wanted to beat the living shit out of Greg after hearing his bold accusation. An unyielding fist rose as he stormed over toward his captive, but as he approached him and saw an all too familiar hint of recognition in his eyes, Calvin stopped. As the truth behind Greg's words began to sink into his conscience, he knew that he was right. What all Greg represented in his plot of vengeance, he was aware of but mindful to distance himself from the emotional aspect of it. This single fact though was his seemingly flawless plan's shortcoming and he never predicted having to approach it, especially so directly.

In seconds, he lost all control of his emotions as an overwhelming attack took over any and every attempt of thought festered in his brain. Anger because of what Greg said, sympathy because of the truth, frustration because of this whole situation, sorrow because of the memories, confusion because of his conscience, and insanity because of every overwhelming thought swarming around in his complex mind. His hands rose to his head and gripped the roots of his hair as he turned and stormed over to the stairs and left the basement.

"Calvin, what the hell, are you okay man?" Mark asked as he chased after his clearly distraught friend.

"Just give me a minute," they heard Calvin faintly shout from a distance as Greg and Monica remained alone in the basement.

"Well, that was interesting," Monica commented with a forced smile at her pathetic attempt at humor. Seeing Greg's sound expression though, she realized that he clearly was not amused. After that, it was absolutely silent between them, and awkward to say the least. The two of them sat there, each with their own thoughts in their head on the situation at hand and it was as if each of them were waiting for the other person to finally say something first.

"You know, we should probably try to escape," Monica said, as she decided to be the one to break the silence.

"There's no point," Greg immediately retorted, mindful of the fact not to acknowledge Monica with eye contact as he kept his irritated expression firmly fixed upon the ground.

"I don't know if that's the best mind set to have right now, Greg," she politely argued against. When Greg didn't reply back though, effortlessly he fake grin dropped and was replaced with an all too recognizable, arrogant tone of hers. "You know, I would have taken you for a fighter as you're that type of person to push back, as I recall the day when you showed up at my doorstep accusing me before I called you an asshole, but I guess I was wrong."

"Okay you don't know a damn thing about me or what I have been through," he snapped back with a very intimidating stare back at Monica. "You know how you asked about my leg and I told you I got shot? You know how I got shot? I tried to escape. You know why Calvin shot me in the leg? So I can't escape," he rightfully justified. "You know, Mark said something to me just before you guys came down here, and he said that if I didn't try to escape, I wouldn't have been shot and I wouldn't have to worry about a damn thing because Calvin is so concerned with you and seeking revenge on you right now that I'm the least of his worries. In fact, he was even considering letting me go, but that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen because Mark now wants revenge on me because I killed his brother trying to defend myself when I tried to escape.

"So badly I want to stand by my pride on this and say that I did the right thing fighting for my life, but I know Mark is right, and I hate to admit that. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if I just stayed in that fuckin chair and I would have had a one way ticket out of here, but that's not going to happen now. So excuse me if I don't try to escape and for once not do a goddamn thing, because even though my fate is uncertain, I know that I'm looking a lot better then you are in this situation, and I don't want to mess that up."

Unexpectedly, Greg had released this spew of word vomit and after he finally got this rant out, he had felt better, but he had also felt defeated. It was hard for him not to stand by his inner sense of fight but he knew that it was the better situation to just remain passive and allow the attention to be put on Monica.

It was an understatement to say that Monica was taken aback by all that Greg had just said to her. Greg was right to say that she didn't know a damn thing about what all he had been through, as this small story wasn't anything that she had expected to hear and she couldn't even begin to fathom how all of his other injuries were caused. "I'm sorry," she quietly said as she tried to apologize for the arrogant accusation.

"You're saying that a lot you know," Greg bitterly retorted back with a snide smirk.

"I fuckin mean it," she defended right back, not accepting the disrespect behind the snarky tone. "You know, you don't know what I've been through either."

"Well I'd love to hear your sob story about how you set up Aaron for money and left him to rot in prison. Tell me, how's Cory been?" he mocked with an unforgiving, sarcastic tone.

"You despicable bastard," she said with disgust.

"Care to enlighten me as to how you're the saint in this?"

"I regret what I did okay! Cory talked up the idea in my head but I never imagined that it would have lead to Aaron's death. Even before he died, I still couldn't believe what I had done, but it hadn't really sunken in yet. The day that it officially hit me was when you told me that Aaron had been killed. I loved him, and I deceived that for an abusive alcoholic. Cory made me believe that he loved me, but after, he changed. I know that I would still be with him now if he wasn't killed by that drunk driver because he made me believe that no one else would ever love me in my life. I sold the man I loved for a façade and it ruined me. When Cory died, I spiraled downward into a deep depression. I even tried to kill myself. After that, I started seeing a therapist and she helped me to cope with what I had done. I know it doesn't chance what happened, but Greg, believe me, I am not the same person I was five years ago."

There was a lot that was going through Greg's mind at the moment after hearing Monica's side of the story, but there was one question that stood out more and he wanted it answered. "Why didn't you turn yourself in?"

"I couldn't Greg. I know I should have, but I couldn't summon the courage within to do that," she shamefully explained.

"Still, if you turned yourself in, I wouldn't have had to go through all this," he said against her point with a blatant expression of disappointment.

"And that's what I'm sorry for. Greg I mean it when I say that I don't deserve to live over you. You've been forced into this because of me. Never did I imagine that what I did five years ago would turn into this whole mess and you certainly don't deserve to be the victim in it."

Answers were finally began to make themselves clear and Greg was happy to of at least have received an apology from this girl who ultimately the cause of this whole ordeal. Still, he was rather torn, not entirely knowing whether he could accept her apology or not. Without a doubt, he knew that she meant it and that it was sincere, but still, the principle remained that none of this would have every happened to him if Monica had never betrayed Aaron or even confessed to her crime.

"Can I ask you something?" Greg asked, as a very thought provoking question entered his mind that he knew would define where he stood with his view on Monica.

Merely, she nodded her head, to which he asked his question. "Say that everything still happened, Calvin's whole revenge scheme involving me, just everything occurred exactly as it has, the only difference being that Aaron was still alive. If Aaron was still alive, would you have the same attitude that you do now or would you still keep your confession to yourself?"

This question wasn't anything that Monica was expecting to hear, especially from Greg, but she guessed that you should never doubt the complex and logical mind of a CSI. "You know, when I was talking to Catherine yesterday, she asked me to tell the whole story of what happened to Aaron five years ago, and I told her."

"You confessed to Catherine?" Greg asked, but skeptically.

"Yes," she simply answered.

"A confession is still a confession Monica," he firstly stated, as if he was building the suspense of the point he was trying to make. "So explain to me how you're not in jail right now. Either you're lying and just telling me you confessed so that I would believe you changed, or you really did confess, but off the record."

"I'm not lying," she stated, but with a weak voice of conviction. "I really confessed."

"But it was off the record, right," Greg once again inferred. Hearing nothing but silence, Greg knew that he was right, which made him issue his next question. "Tell me Monica, did you offer to confess off the record, or did Catherine have to bribe you."

"I confessed because they thought that I would be able to help find you," she tried to explain, but Greg could tell that there was a sense of absence in her story. There was a moment of silence held between the two of them as Greg attested the whole truth behind her story. "I don't know if I believe you Monica."

It was as if the weak and trying sense to befriend her possibly only ally in this situation had abandoned her, because as she looked at Greg and heard him state an all too confirming fact, one fact remained within her, and that was that she simply didn't give a shit. "You know what? I realized that I really just don't care what you think. You and I, we're not going to know each other after today, so why try to explain our fucked up relationship. The truth here is though that yes, Catherine had to bribe me with putting the statement off the record, but I didn't fully believe her. It was when she said that it would help find you though that I finally told her the truth behind what happened five years ago, because I wanted to help you."

"You still only confessed because you had immunity. What if Catherine just asked for your confession on the fact alone that she thought it would help me, would you still have told her everything even though it would mean that you would get arrested?"

Monica was silent.

"What would you have done if Aaron was still alive? Would you have done the same thing?"

"I honestly have no idea," she whole heartedly stated. "I know that is a terrible answer, and as much as I want to believe that I would do the right thing and turn myself in, I just don't know." She was crying now.

"I don't think you would have. Even if it was off the record, we wouldn't let an innocent man remain in jail."

"Well then Aaron would be out of prison and I would have immunity so I wouldn't have to go to prison, we all win."

"Do you really think Aaron would be so forgiving though? You set him up and got him sentenced to prison, I don't think he'd sit well with knowing what you did to him and seeing that you receive no punishment for it and merely treat it as an act that never happened, as if you were just brushing it off your shoulder."

"Are you forgiving?" she then asked, getting at the root of Greg's point. When she heard nothing but silence from him though, a wave of emotions flooded through Monica. Part of her was hoping that Greg would say that yes, he forgave her, but when she put herself in his position, she didn't know if she would even forgive herself. Thinking back to the moment when she tried to kill herself, she was then reminded of the emotions that she felt before she took that knife to her wrist. There was that feeling with hate within herself toward herself that she thought she'd never forgive, as she felt that what she had done to him was an act unforgivable. Looking back at Greg, she felt like an idiot thinking that he would ever even consider forgiving her. Like Calvin had said, she may not have shed the blood, but the blood was on her hands. Who could forgive the cause when it reaped such a horrible affect?

"It's a hard question to answer right now, Monica," Greg finally said, disrupting the dismal quiet that filled the room.

"Honestly, I don't expect you to," she quietly answered as she felt tears starting to prick at her eyes.

"Then why did you ask the question?" he asked, partially confused by her question, but for the first time, he was beginning to feel a sense of sympathy toward this girl. The somberness in her expression really represented the regret that he could clearly see in her eyes. There was a nagging speck in the back of his mind that told him not to fully trust this girl just yet, but his caring and compassionate heart urged him to give her a chance. "Monica," Greg calmly said, getting the crying girls attention. When she looked up at him, there was nothing that felt like it needed to be said. There was a gleam of encouragement beneath his eyes and it ushered Monica into her explanation.

"With this whole thing, I know that I'm the bad guy here, but for some reason, I feel the need to justify myself and my actions, but the end result is still the same. It's like I'm trying to convince myself that I'm the victim when I have no right to put myself in that position. I had complete control over what I did but I still feel like I'm in denial."

Understanding where Monica was coming from and beginning to see and accept this whole new side to her, Greg felt that he needed to rightfully contradict what she was saying. "I don't believe that you're still in denial."

"Why's that?" she asked, but there was a skeptical tone to her voice.

"Well, when you admitted to Calvin that you don't deserve to live over me, you weren't in denial about that. You knew what you had done and the repercussions of it and you were taking accountability for your actions when you said that."

"You know I mean that, right?" she then asked. "You're the one who deserves to live over me."

"I don't believe it's a matter of that anymore," Greg said, ignoring this extraneous life-or-death debate. "You know where your position in this is and I believe that you truly regret your decision. All that really matters is whether or not you're content with yourself.

"I just want to do the right thing here so that I can be content with myself," she brokenly said with a fragile voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Greg asked, genuinely puzzled by what Monica had said.

"I just want to make amends with myself and Aaron. I don't want to carry this baggage anymore. I've been living with this burden in my conscience for too long now and I just want to do the right thing and I know that with you I'll be able to finally get closure."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Greg asked once again, but this time with a surprisingly more demanding tone. Everything that Monica was saying at the moment was boarder line driving him insane, even more than some of Calvin's riddles had. Pure and simple, he was utterly confused as to why he was what defined her sanity in this situation and why he was the person who was to give her closure.

Before Monica could answer him though, the distraught presence that stormed out of the basement before had returned but with a very fragile sense of composure. The room became still as Calvin deftly made his way down the stair case with somber eyes glued to them, and no one moved a muscle. When he made his way over to them, they both remained perfectly still and the room stayed a deathly silence. The first voice that spoke was rightfully from the man in charge, but what he had said wasn't anything that either of them had expected him to say.

"Everything that you had said, did you mean it?" Calvin asked in a voice that was very calm, as if he was at peace.

"You've been listening?" Monica asked, not having the slightest clue that Monica was even in the basement, let alone listening.

"I have been, and for a while, and I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised Monica," he admitted with a rather solemn expression.

"What are you surprised about?" she asked, intrigued.

"You truly seem to have changed," he replied as he looked at her with very serene and understanding eyes. "Just hearing you say all that you did to Greg… I've just felt like you've been putting on a show for me, but knowing that you really feel regret over what you did… you're making it hard to resent you," he tried to explain as best he could and even added a faint smile to show his more uplifting spirit.

"I'm glad that you see that," Monica gratefully replied.

"And I want to know, would you really give your life for Greg's?" he then asked, in a cautious tone though, as if he were testing her.

"If he were to die over me, I'd feel very guilty. Like Aaron, he's innocent in this situation too, and doesn't deserve to pay for what I've done," she whole-heartedly admitted.

Silence had filled the cold room as Calvin quietly contemplated Monica's words and just how genuine that they felt to him. Both Monica and Greg knew that in the end, their fate rested in Calvin's hands and he would be the one to dictate who lived today, but due to Greg's innocence and Monica's very truthful confession of remorse, the two of them were rather hoping that Calvin would consider letting them both live. They could only silently wait to hear the verdict though with crossed fingers.

"I'm gonna let you go, Monica," Calvin finally spoke.

Hearing this, both Monica and Greg's jaws had dropped, their eyes had widened, and their breath had been stolen from them, and both for the same reason. What it had sounded like was that Calvin was choosing to spare Monica's life over Greg's and neither of them felt like this was the deserved fate. Greg's reaction was far more heart-wrenching though, as he silently dropped his head and started to heave dry his shallow sobs.

After watching Greg's hopeless display, it had majorly pulled at her hearts strings, especially due to the fact that she didn't believe that this was the right decision. "If you're letting one of us go today, let him go and let me take his place," she valiantly ordered with a very brave look in her eyes.

Immediately, both Calvin and Greg turned to look at her, seeing if she really meant what she had said or if this was just a heartless bluff, but the unwavering and determined expression said it all and they both knew that she was dead serious. As I said, it wouldn't be right if I lived and he was left here to suffer."

"I just said that I was going to let you go though," Calvin then absently explained. "I didn't say that I was going to kill Greg." After saying this though, he noticed the utterly baffled expressions on both of Greg and Monica's faces and once again, went to further explain his thinking. "I'm gonna let you go Monica and I'm going to leave Greg here. It's my choice on the matter whether I choose to stay here or not, but I'm basically saying that today, this ends."

"Are you serious?" Monica asked, now choosing to call Calvin's bluff, if he was bluffing, but when he had walked over to her and had cut free the tape from her wrists, it was enough to convince her that they were both going to get to live. Calvin then extended his hand forward and helped her to her feet and after started to walk over to the stair case.

Monica was about ready to follow him, but when she looked down at Greg and saw his almost hopeful but still scared expression, she then said, "Calvin wait, I think you should let me stay here instead of Greg." This request was more inspired by her guard that was up that was telling her not to fully trust Calvin yet. More than anything, she just wanted to know that Greg was going to be safe in this and just wanted him to get out of here and away from Mark and Calvin.

"It's alright Monica," Greg had then chimed in. "I can't even walk so I'm not going to be able to get anywhere fast. You go," he then assured with a grateful gleam in his eyes, as he had appreciated the gesture that she made to put his safety first.

"Okay, she simply stated with an assuring and promising smile. Following behind Calvin once again, the two of them began to make their way up the staircase, but Monica had one last time turned around to look back at Greg. It had comforted her to know that she was going to be able to help him, but she still didn't like the idea of leaving him here alone.

"Hold on, just a second Calvin," she said as she walked down the last two steps that she had just walked up and had walked back over to Greg.

"What are you doing?" Greg asked as he was simply confused by her actions.

Standing by his side, she then got down onto her knees so that she was at his own level. Looking at him in the eyes, she quietly said to him, "I'm gonna go get help okay. You're gonna get out of here today," she assured. "Are you gonna be okay though?"

"I've survived this long… I'll be fine," he tried to say, but he didn't entirely know if he had believed his own words. Really, he had no other choice then to hope for the best in the situation that he was going to be left in, but he was at least happy that he was able to comfortably put his faith in Monica. "I want to thank you though," he then added as he looked up at Monica with a truly thankful gleam in his eyes.

"I just wish I didn't have to leave you," she said as she looked into his eyes once again, to which Greg had replied, "I know, and I appreciate knowing that."

"I know that this isn't the most picture perfect scenario, but I'm happy that it turned out this way, and I'm happy that I got the chance to actually meet you and get to know you," she confessed as she went in to hug him. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in for an embrace as she rested her head on his shoulder. Calmly, she breathed in his scent and took in his warmth and basked in the memory's that he provided.

"Monica," Greg quietly said to get her attention.

Monica lifted her head up and looked at the voice that said her name with eyes that were glistening from forming tears. "You remind me a lot of Aaron," she firstly stated. "You two are like the same person… You have the same soul," she said as she tenderly placed her hand on the chest of the man that she was holding.

Smoothly gliding her hand that was on his chest, Monica had then placed her hand on the side of Greg's neck. Feeling her gentle touch, it had caused a subtle shudder of ecstasy run throughout his whole body. "What's wrong?" he heard Monica ask, to which he replied, "You just have very soft hands," his comment being inspired from an earlier thought of his that never would he enjoy the feel of any ones touch ever again, but Monica clearly proved that wrong.

Looking into her eyes again and seeing her simple smile, all the demons that she had carried had seemed to leave her. The woman embracing him seemed like a whole new human being to him, and quickly, a spark within him had begun to grow as he felt chemistry between the two of them. Following the hand that guided the next action, he leaned in and met his lips with Monica's as the two of them enjoyed a simple yet passionate kiss.

The moment was of effortless bliss and it was equally shared between the two of them. What chaos surrounded them felt as if it just didn't exist for the briefest of seconds, but it was those seconds of uncomplicated delight that made that moment so serene. It was the complicated connection that they two of them shared with each other that brought that moment to life between them though.

When Monica finally gently pulled her lips away from his, she rested her forehead against his as she took in the moment that she just had with Greg. The first thing that she had said to him though, it wasn't something that she was just saying for the kiss, but for really everything. "I'm sorry," she admitted as she felt a tear effortlessly trickle down her cheek.

"I know," he quietly said, knowing exactly what all Monica was apologizing for.

The calm, understanding in his voice had almost broken her spirit but had also built it up. With this moment, she knew who she was sharing it with, but the spirit behind the kiss was for the ghost inside. This whole moment felt like her finally taking control over her unfinished business and after this moment, she would finally be able to put it all to rest peacefully. There was still the matter that she would have to leave the man who she was embracing though if she was going to be able to finish this properly.

Looking at Greg, her eyes could only see Aaron standing before her, and knowing that she was going to have to leave him, she felt like she simply couldn't. Knowing what she had done to Aaron before in the matter of betraying him so severely and then abandoning him without any means of hope, she couldn't find it within herself to, in a sense, do the same thing to Greg. Realizing that this moment with Greg was her second chance with everything in her life, she wanted to do it right, and she didn't want to leave a man behind that she genuinely was starting to deeply care about.

"I can't leave you," she whispered to him as she struggled to hold back her tears.

Understanding where she was coming from and the struggle that she was going through in this moment, Greg knew why Monica felt that she couldn't leave him behind alone. A sense of care and compassion were two emotions that had almost abandoned Greg as they were two concepts that he really hadn't been associated with in this lifetime of an ordeal, but Monica clearly reintroduced that sensation to him, and he welcomed it with a warm heart. "I'll be fine," he tried to assure her once again. "If you don't go, then this situation won't be over and it'll be better for both of us to end it today. You need to go Monica," he continued to encourage.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she once again assured as she leaned forward one last time and kissed Greg on his cheek. Standing up, before she walked away, her hand that was resting on Greg's neck had gracefully followed along his jaw line and up to the tip of his chin as she slowly backed away from him and back over to the staircase.

As she started to walk up the staircase, she saw Calvin waiting at the top for her. Silently, she made her way to the top, but Calvin wasn't shy in the least to make his own comment over what display just happened. "Well, that was tender," he mocked in a snide tone. "I'm surprised that Greg was able to look past the fact that you're still the bitch that did this to him."

It was the return of the vial name that made Monica's muscles tense, very wary of the attitude that Calvin was now portraying. "I'm making this right," she boldly stated as she shot a very daring stare toward Calvin. She continued to walk up the stairs but stopped though once there was only a distance of two stairs between her and Calvin where she then stood her ground as she waited for Calvin to finally lead the way out of the shed. What happened next though, in the back of her mind, she was almost expecting something like this to happen, but more than anything else, for Greg's sake, she was praying that Calvin was going to for once keep his every word.

That unfortunately wasn't the case.

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So, I bet you guys are just stirring in your seats now just wondering what's going to happen… Well, you're just going to have to wait for that. Next chapter, it's a pretty big one… I don't think it'll be a very long chapter so it should come quickly but some very pivotal character moments will DEFINITELY be occurring.

So question: Was Calvin's sympathetic act of kindness an act or a charade. And there have been some comments regarding Calvin's human side, so it's sparked my curiosity, who thinks Calvin has turned human or is the demon still within?

Now, to express my gratitude to my readers…

For alerting, thank you to SkullyQueen, Marymel, The Awesome one, KliqzAngel, and ZillyyMe.

For add The Puppet Master's Game to your favorite stories list, many many thanks to SkullyQueen, CoverGirl7210, artemis515, kgirl999, The Awesome one, Chlomaine101, and Kristalie.

And for all the lovely reviews that I received, thank you to Huge Fan 3, Jessica, Marymel, SkullyQueen, DestructoGirl, Bumble Bee Extreme Step Team, C.H.W.13, peeta12321, Tracy79, 9Laura8, Jasmine, Quietavariety, and Abby.

And finally, for everyone who is still following my story, I thank you all. It's your support as a reader that is keeping this story alive. So until the next chapter, I bid you farewell.


	33. The Wrath of The Vengeful

So, for the opening author's notes, I don't really have much to say. A warning as always, there is swearing but nothing more than the usual f-bombs that I drop. As always, I love to get reviews and hear your thoughts on the chapter and it's a gesture to a writer that is always greatly appreciated. Other than that, please enjoy chapter 33 :)!

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**Chapter 33: The Wrath of the Vengeful**

"MONICA!" Greg shouted at the top of his lung once he unexpectedly saw her petite body tumbling down the stairs as if she was nothing more than a broken rag doll. Scared that she was hurt, he as a reaction tried to move forward, but with the pain in his knee and the chain securing his wrists, he had nowhere to go. The only option he had was to sit there and watch this young girl suffer the wrath of Calvin Richards.

As she struggled to even make the most subtle of movements, Calvin leisurely made his way down the stair case. Merely stepping over the battered heap that lay on the floor, Calvin moved around Monica and took a firm stance right next to her face, so close that the tip of her nose was a single inch from his boot. "I'm surprised you so easily put your faith in my hands," he coldly said.

"You said you were going to let her go! Why wouldn't she believe you?" Greg shouted back at Calvin, careless of his own safety in the matter.

Turning around, he simply shot a rather non-threatening glare toward Greg and smoothly said, "I suggest you hold your tongue right now Greg, it'll do you best." Ignoring him thus far, he turned his attention back to Monica who he had noticed was trying to pick herself up off the ground.

"Did I say that you could get back up!" he screamed back at her as his foot heavily went down on her back sending the breaking girl back down to the cold ground. "Did you really think that after all that you did to me and more importantly, my brother, that I would be so forgiving?" There was a very unnerving calm in his voice and it was as cold as death. "You really thought that I was just going to let you waltz right on out of here?"

"Calvin… please," she tried to get out, but after being kicked square in the chest and forced to uncontrollably fall down a full flight of stairs really crippled her strength.

"Please what?" Calvin mocked mercilessly. "Please spare my life? You already tried that one. Like I said Monica, either you or Greg gets to live today."

"She's sparing her life for mine Calvin!" Greg shouted back once again, making another attempt to try and defend the helpless girl. "Please, don't hurt her!"

"Didn't Calvin tell you to shut the fuck up?" Mark blurted out as he then returned down to the basement. Feeling that Greg was now solely his victim, as he passed by Calvin and the broken mess on the floor he causally walked over next to Greg. Walking behind Greg, he curled his fingers through his hair and took a firm grip on his roots causing him to automatically let out a dull groan showing his discomfort. "Let's watch and see what he's going to do to that stupid bitch. Don't forget to keep this thought in the back of your mind though. Just remind yourself while you're watching this, that you're next."

The atmosphere had turned still for a moment as Calvin was carefully watching Monica. Clearly, he could tell that the girl was trying to say something, but she was having a difficult time catching her breath. "Come on, spit it out," he snapped as he grew impatient waiting for her to say something.

"Calvin… just let… Greg go," she tried to get out between her trying breaths.

"What if I'm still planning to?" Calvin suggested.

With his answer, it was as if there was a playful tease in his voice underneath but his expression was rather serious. All in all, it was a difficult answer to comprehend but the events of the current moment brought a major sense of doubt within. Having said that he was going to let both of them go just to then betray firstly her, she couldn't put it past her that he would do the same thing to Greg.

Drawing this uncertain but discerning conclusion, she solemnly shook her head. "He doesn't deserve this… just like how Aaron didn't," she broken heartedly reasoned.

"Why do you care about Greg?" he asked with frustration as tears began to pour from his eyes as he was then reminded of his brother.

"For the same reason… you're not going to be able to kill him," she knowingly answered.

Although her voice was spoken in a tone that was barely above a whisper, everyone in the room clearly heard her and it had chilled everyone's souls to the bone. Calvin once again was presented with a conflict of emotions, knowing exactly where Monica was coming from when she had said this. It was a dilemma that he had been facing with himself since they had arrived at Monica's house. Though he gained a great sense of satisfaction knowing that he was approaching the end of this whole ordeal, but he wasn't prepared for how exactly to fully deal with that fact.

For Greg, after hearing Monica it had granted his first genuine sense of hope that he had felt in a really long time. Hope was something that he had learned not to rely on but with what Monica had said, it was hard for him not to look at the possibility that he was going to make it out of here alive.

For Mark though, he had drawn the same conclusion, but it had affected him in a completely different way. Taking from what Monica had said, he knew that her words were very truthful in Calvin's eyes and considering the thought that he wouldn't be able to kill, let alone hurt Greg anymore, that was the last thing that Mark wanted to happen. "Come on Calvin, finish her, then we can finish this thing," he desperately encouraged, trying to distract Calvin from his emotions and focus on the moment at hand.

"I know you see Aaron in him," Monica spoke again, but this time only Calvin could hear her. "That's why you won't be able to hurt him anymore," she barely whispered as she intentionally spoke to the demon within Calvin. For a brief second, she caught Calvin taking a quick glance over at Greg but he immediately turned his head away from him as he tried to fight back tears. Monica knew instantly what Calvin saw as he dared to take that glimpse and she knew that it was time for Calvin to put all of his demons to rest.

"Just finish it," she simply said, and there was nothing more that she needed to add as those three simple words had said it all to Calvin. It was time to remove all of their demons and return to a blissful sense of content. It was time to end this ordeal once and for all and to grant freedom to all involved. It was time for Calvin's life to begin and for her life to end. They both knew that death in this moment was going to be as much of a release for her as it was going to be for him.

Slowly, large hands had clasped around her neck and every so subtly they tightened. With the strain of every muscle growing more prominent around her throat, she could feel his grasp continuing to become stronger, but she had remained as still as stone. Never did she even flinch. Silently, she gasped for air, but still her body lay as still as if she was gently floating along a glassy lake. The only movement came from a single tear trickling from the corner of her eye that spoke of content. As freeing as the moment was though, it was still agonizing as she felt every demon that she carried leave her body, but it was also effortless to abandon those very demons from her soul and for the first time since Aaron's death, she felt at peace. And as she closed her eyes, she allowed her final breath to be stolen from her lungs.

It took every ounce of inhumane rage that he had within to bring himself to killing a human being with his bare hands and the feeling was unreal, but utterly divine. But what was the real reward of his actions was what followed. The silence filling the room brought with it a sense of clarity and as his hands trembled, he could feel the demons leaving his body. As he felt the flesh in his hands turn limp and cold, he released his grip from around the swollen neck and as he stood up, he couldn't help but back away from the body. This wasn't the first dead body that he had seen but consciously knowing that he was the one that took away her life had made all the difference.

Once again, emotions ran rapid within Calvin. Backing away from Monica, he back up to a wall and once again, he wrapped his fingers in his hair and just stared with a haunted gaze at the corpse. It was a completely out-of-body experience for him to be filled with such hate and ire to come to the point of actually killing someone. After the wrath was said and done with though, there was a very content spirit that had filled him. The feeling was that of the old familiar. A distant memory but it was greatly welcomed.

"Calvin?" Hearing a cautious voice question his name from the other side of the room, he looked to his left at the voice but the sight that he was met with, he hadn't fully expected to see what he was looking at. Once again, there was a sense of familiarity, but the view itself was seen with a new eye and he didn't like what he was seeing.

Mark had then left the side of the tortured man and had walked over and knelt down next to the unmoving flesh that laid on the floor. Gently he pushed his fingers up against her neck to feel for that life assuring pulse, but upon feeling nothing, his thoughts had been confirmed. "You killed her," he calmly whispered with an almost satisfied look on his face. After seeing such a sense of confusion within his friend, he had almost begun to doubt that the monster was still in him, but after committing this malicious act, it fully disproved his disbelief and he knew that Calvin was going to finish what he had started.

Turning around to face his friend, he walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder as she said with a twisted smile, "It's good to have you back man."

After hearing Mark's comment, he had adopted a rather displeased look in his eyes. Knowing the freedom that he felt within for committing his rather inhuman act, it still wasn't something that he felt he should be condoned for. There was a certain meaning behind Mark's comment though and Calvin immediately sensed it, and it had to do with the vulnerable man restrained helplessly on the other side of the room. Turning his attention toward his distraught victim, Calvin slowly walked over to Greg.

After seeing Calvin go back on his word and ultimately kill Monica, Greg didn't feel that he was in the best situation at the moment. Feeling as vulnerable as a sitting duck, he was with a whole and hopeless heart anticipating the absolute worse to occur from this point on. With Calvin filling Monica with such false hope and then killing her, he had no reason to doubt that he would do the very same to him. Knowing where his fate laid, he knew that there was just absolutely no point in trying to convince Calvin of anything anymore so for the first time, Greg chose to remain silent as he held his tongue. Whatever he had coming, there wasn't anything that he could say to change it, but for his own sake, he just hoped that it was going to be quick, like Monica's death was.

Greg watched Calvin's movements very cautiously as he painfully anticipated that moment when this killer would finally strike. It was especially unsettling when he saw him kneeling down in front of him, making direct eye contact. When Calvin finally spoke though, the question that was asked, he didn't exactly know how it interpret it. It was either an incredible sick joke or a pseudo sense of hope.

"Do you want to go home?" Calvin asked as he firmly made eye contact with Greg.

More than anything in the world right now, that was all that Greg wanted, was to go home and be done with this whole thing. Still, he couldn't convince himself that Calvin was genuinely asking him this question. There had to be a bleak, hidden intention behind the taunting question and he tried his hardest to remain unfazed by it.

When Greg didn't answer though, it drew a sense of concern within Calvin. Knowing exactly where the hesitancy came from, he tried to assure Greg that his intentions were honest and pure. "Greg, I'm being serious. No tricks," he encouraged.

"You're going to let me go?" Greg asked, but as he asked this question, he could feel his emotions already breaking down. Desperately, he wanted to believe Calvin but after being let down so many times, it was almost automatic for him to doubt his sense of hope. But as he saw Calvin simply nod his head, Greg couldn't help but break down, completely overwhelmed by the fact that he was going to finally be able to escape this everlasting nightmare.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Mark then interrupted after hearing Calvin openly telling their captive that he was going to let him go.

Calvin firstly ignored Mark though. Instead he addressed Greg as he said, "I'll be right back okay. I'm gonna go get something." Getting up, he walked over to the stairs, passing Mark and the corpse on the floor and he left the basement. As expected Mark followed behind him as he began to demand an explanation out of him. "Calvin, what do you mean you're going to let him go?"

"I'm done Mark, I've realized that I'm done," he merely said.

"What do you mean you're done?" Mark shouted back at him, having not accepted the fact that Calvin wasn't going to finish off what he had started.

"I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not hurting him anymore!" he shouted right back.

"So you're just going to let him go then? What the hell is wrong with you man! Okay can I just remind you that just four hours ago, you shot Greg in his fuckin knee so that he can't escape and now you want to let him go? Why would you do that? Why throw away all that you've done just because you've all of a sudden developed a conscience."

"At least I have one!" he simply shouted back. Marching his way into the living room, Calvin had grabbed the sandwich that Mark had made him earlier and had also grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. Walking right past Mark and completely ignoring him, he went right back down into the basement.

"I've got something for you," Calvin said to Greg. Setting the plate down on a table, he then grabbed the handcuff key that he saw next to the plate and walked over to Greg and undid the handcuffs that held his wrists. Once the tight metal clasps were removed, he noticed Greg automatically began to rub his wrists and massage the tender skin. "Do you want to lean against the beam?" he then asked as he pointed to the wooden beam that was just next to him, wanting to see if Greg would want to move into a more comfortable position.

With everything that Calvin was doing, it made Greg feel like he was in the twilight zone. Having become so use to his kidnapper's cruel ways, this kind, calm and gentle nature was a pretty abnormal experience to witness. It was a bit disturbing though, seeing him just a few minutes ago kill someone with his bare hands and then all of a sudden turn into this attentive and caring person, it just seemed like a foreign concept to Calvin behavior. Bringing himself to Calvin's question, Greg tried for a moment to move, but the calm atmosphere that came with the current moment at hand, it had made Greg feel more relaxed. Due to the fact that this was one moment where he didn't have a dose of adrenaline surging through him to distract him from the pain, Greg tried to reposition himself up against the beam, but every subtle movement was absolutely excruciating.

When Calvin saw his hurt, he once again wasn't shy to exploit his bizarre but welcoming behavior as he made the subtle gesture to help the broken man. Gently maneuvering his limbs, he helped Greg to rest against the beam. When he saw that Greg was in a decently comfortable position, he walked back over to the table where he had set the sandwich down. "I brought you something to eat," Calvin simply offered as he grabbed the plate that he had set down on the table and set it down on the ground next to Greg.

As the plate was placed next to him, Greg just remained frozen as he stared at the meal. At first, he thought that he was hallucinating, not fully believing the fact that there was an edible delicatessen being offered to him. There was then the thought that Calvin had genuinely gone insane and the food was poisoned, but he didn't believe this possibility to be true. Still, he remained still and the food remained untouched as he continued to stare at it. Having not eaten anything since the breakfast that he had with Nick, Catherine and Langston, it was an understatement to say that he had felt starved. Having not eaten in so long though, he almost felt as if he had forgotten how to eat, but as he felt his mouth begin to water, he was quickly reminded of the sensation.

"Greg, you can't tell me you're not hungry," Calvin light-heartedly encouraged, wanting Greg to savor the small meal. "Here's a water too," he then offered as he extended his arm out so that Greg could take a hold of the unopened cylinder bottle.

Greg reached his hand out and took the water in his hands and set it down next to his plate of food. Taking a half of the sandwich, he took a small bite out of the corner and instantly, Greg dubbed this meal as the greatest thing he had ever eaten. It was a five star dinner at the Bellagio, it was steak and eggs at Frank's diner after a long day's work, it was a simple turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and mayo, and it was the most delectable meal of his life.

"Is it good?" Calvin then asked.

Greg simply nodded his head as his mouth was full after quickly eating the first half of the sandwich. Swallowing what was in his mouth he then took a swig from the bottle of water and cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said as he looked at Calvin with a humble and grateful look.

With the kindness that Calvin was portraying, Greg was finding it to be a difficult battle with his heart and his conscience between whether to believe this man or not. There was his conscience that was reminding him of all that this man had ultimately done to him and how many times he had tricked and deceived him, but then there was his gut telling him to trust him. As he studied the monster-turned-man before him, there was one characteristic that he saw within him that he had never seen before. For the first time, Greg saw Calvin as a human.

"What's on your mind?" Calvin had then asked him, taking to notice his silence and an expression that clearly told that he was really stuck in his head.

"Are you really going to let me go?" Greg cautiously and hopefully asked.

"Think about your answer Calvin," a daring voice had then chimed in as Mark had returned to the basement. "There really is no need to fill him with any sense of hope."

"Mark, I told you up stairs, I'm done," Calvin reiterated once again in an irritated tone, finding it annoying that he had to repeat himself.

"Calvin, listen to what you're saying," Mark calmly said. "You're saying that you're done, but you and I both know that if you just give up then you won't be able to properly finish what you've started."

"Mark, there is nothing to finish here, it's already done," Calvin tried to contradict, but Mark once again had a contradiction of his own.

"Let me ask you this, when you started this whole thing, who were you doing it for?"

"For Aaron," Calvin somberly answered as he briefly reminisced on the events involving his arrest and death having been reminded of the source for his revenge.

"That's right. You had a plan Calvin, to avenge Aaron's death. You've stuck to your plan all the way until now. Don't let Monica manipulate you like how she manipulated him. All that you've done, you've done it for Aaron and you know that he is so proud of you right now. Seeing what you're doing for him in order to avenge his death, I know that he couldn't be any prouder to call you his brother. Seeing what lengths you are willing to go for him, you know that he wants to see you finish this, for both of you."

"Mark, there is just nothing else that needs to be done. What Greg has to do with this, there is no need for that anymore."

"Yes there is," Mark continued to contradict but persuade. "We know what Greg represents in this, and that representation hasn't changed from the moment we kidnapped him."

"Mark, it's just different okay."

"No it's not Calvin," he began to explain. "You and I both know he hasn't done a damn thing and that he doesn't deserve this, but we both know who does deserve this! And that's why we're doing this. Do you want Aaron to see you come this far just to hand Greg back over to the bastards who put him away? We all feel bad for Greg, but that's why we have to do this."

"He hasn't done a damn thing to me…" Calvin started to say. "This situation is different to you now though Mark." Calvin was well aware of the vengeful side that Mark possessed ever since the whole fiasco that took place just a few hours ago. It was this that made him worry about his friend.

"I'm aware of that Cal, but you said this to me and you're right. This is yours," he both reminded and assured him. "This ordeal belongs to you and you dictate what happens in the end. I'll have my chance and I know that."

"Mark, I just can't do this to him anymore," he said once again as he dropped his head into his hands, almost feeling ashamed and guilty for not being able to go on anymore.

"Yes you can. You can do this to him. You need to finish this for Aaron and you're almost done. Why do you doubt yourself now?"

Calvin was silent for a moment. It was what Monica had said to him before he killed her and he knew that it was the truth. It was all that he could see in him now. "I'm seeing it now," he then whispered, as he introduced the first part of the truth to why he felt he couldn't carry on with his vengeful plot.

"Seeing what?" Mark asked being both curious and concerned.

"Aaron," Calvin started to say but then paused for a second, "in Greg."

"Calvin, look at him," he said as the two of them turned to face the puzzled and confused looking man sitting on the floor. "That's not your brother. You just need to remind yourself that Greg is not Aaron. Greg represents Aaron but he is not your brother."

Calvin was once again torn by some very strong emotional ties. Everything that Monica had said to him, it was a very noble and honorable way to look at the situation. Finishing this ordeal today and letting Greg go, it seemed like the right thing to do. There was then everything that Mark was saying to him and he had made a very strong and compelling argument. After being reminded of why he began this whole, he felt like he owed it to Aaron to finish this.

"You know it's going to be such a release once you finish this, and it'll be easy and then we can leave and then you can feel content with putting this whole thing to rest," Mark once again continued to encourage and persuade. "What do you say?"

With the pressure that his friend was putting on him, it was hard for Calvin to really go against what Mark was asking him to try to do. The was reminded of the reality that just a few hours ago, the wrath-seeking demon that was inside of him had no problem with accomplishing the torturous activity that he was about ready to participate in. Something changed though, drastically, and with that change, he didn't know if he would be able to go through with his original plan. Still, there was the reminder of his brother and why he committed this whole kidnapping ordeal to begin with, and he figured that it would be best to see it through to the end. "Okay," he quietly answered.

Overhearing Calvin, Greg's jaw instantly dropped, not wanting to accept what he was hearing. "What do you mean okay!" he shouted in panic, especially once he saw Mark aggressively stalking toward him. "Okay to what? You said you were going to let me go!"

"Change of plans," Mark said with a particularly sadistic smile. Grabbing Greg by his bicep once again, he began to reposition him like he had before where he had his arms slightly suspended behind his back. "Leave me alone!" Greg started to shout as he fought against Mark's hold on his wrists, but his efforts were futile as the metal clasps from before had returned around his wrists.

Turning to look at Calvin - the man he thought was going to be his savior - he noticed how he couldn't even look at him while Mark was brutally restraining him. "You said you were going to let me go!" Greg yelled at him with such agony in his voice.

"You don't understand Greg," Calvin merely said and he excused and tried to ignore the despair that he had put the helpless man through.

"You don't understand!" Greg boldly shouted back. "Mark doesn't give a shit about Aaron! He's manipulating you! He just doesn't want you to let me go! He wants to see me suffer!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Mark screamed in Greg's face after he then launched a full force punch to the side of Greg's face.

When he saw Mark hit Greg, it had really caused Calvin's stomach to fill and he cringed as he saw Greg's reaction. Dropping his head to the ground, the broken man sulked as he waited for the pain to subside, but once the throbbing in his head had decreased, he lifted himself back up and began to speak to the man that couldn't even look at him.

"Calvin, do you really think Aaron wants to see his brother doing this so someone who's innocent? Especially someone who's supposed to represent him and what he went through? I don't think he would ever want to have to see someone go through what he went through, especially at his brother's hand. If you really want to make him proud, then you should do what you were going to do. You should let me go," Greg tried to strongly convince.

"Do you really think you have the right to talk about Aaron in such a way when you don't even know the guy?" Mark challenged, quickly trying to discredit Greg's persuasive words so that he wouldn't be able to convince Calvin to let him go. "Calvin, remember what I said upstairs about Greg? We have physically broken him to a point where he can't do a damn thing to save himself, but we are both well aware of the fact that he knows how to play the social game. Don't let him get in your head again. You're the one in control, not him, and you can't give him that sense of control or else he'll win. You haven't come this far to see him win did you?"

"Mark, don't you remember down stairs how when you told me that Calvin was considering letting me go, but you weren't going to let that happen," Greg then boldly challenged.

Hearing this, Calvin had then turned to Mark with a shocking expression across his face, unable to believe that Mark really had said this to Greg. "Mark, is that true?"

"You pathetic, desperate piece of shit!" Mark had then screamed in Greg's face. "Why would you make something up like that! Why would I turn on my friend like that? I told him that I understand that this whole thing, it belongs to him. He has dictation over what happens," he explained, but knowingly to both him and Greg, he lied. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and thankfully for him, he had one hell of an edge over Greg. Why would Calvin believe Greg's word over his?

Hearing this, Greg knew that he had been backed into a corner. With Mark lying, he had nowhere to go nothing to say. At this point, he knew Mark had pulled Calvin onto his side and there was nothing that was going to change that. Still, he couldn't help but look to the man he felt like he could call his ally and try to plead to his sense of sympathy. "Calvin, please… You said that you would let me go."

"Calvin also said that he wanted to see this to the end. Letting you go, that wasn't a part of the plan," Mark merely chose to answer for his confused partner. At the moment, he knew that he had Calvin wrapped around his little finger and he wanted to keep I that way.

It was then that Mark had walked over to the end of the chain that was connected to the hook on the beam and he unhooked it as he began to pull on the chain, once again suspending Greg's arm behind him. Like before, he had raised his arms a good four feet from the ground and had then left them like that for a moment. He took a moment to study Greg and his reaction to the pressure being put on his arms and shoulder blades. The miserable grimace on his face showed nothing but that he was experiencing a horrible sense of discomfort. "You don't look comfortable," Mark teased as he started to subtly jerk on the chain, taunting Greg and the pain in his arms.

"No shit Sherlock!" Greg gasped out, not exactly thinking his answer through, but he figured that when dealing with the devil, there was no need to watch his tongue. No matter what he said, the result was going to me the same and it would only involve his suffering.

"Well, it's about to get a hell of a lot worse for you Sanders," Mark threatened with an all too pleasant grin wiped across his face. "I suggest you try your best to make it to your feet or else you'll be in one world of hurt," he carelessly explained as he started to slowly pull on the chain, raising his arms even higher behind him.

Knowing what Mark was doing, Greg began to panic and frantically tried to get to his feet, but with his busted knee that he couldn't put any pressure on and the fact that he was on his knees with his arms raised four feet off the ground behind him, there wasn't much that he could really do. "Mark, please… I can't!" Greg frantically yelled as he started to panic thinking that his shoulder was at risk for becoming dislocated. It was then that Calvin had finally rushed over to his and had helped him to his stand up and balance on his right foot. Still, Mark continued to raise his arms behind him.

The position was starting to grow extremely uncomfortable. With his arms having been raised so high, it had caused his body to lean forward and with only being able to balance on one leg, he had to also put a lot of weight against his wrists and with doing so, it was putting a hell of a strain on his wrists as the tight metal clasps dug into his skin. By this point too, it felt like his wrists were raised at least five, maybe close to six feet from the ground. This position was absolutely excruciating and he hated to admit it, but at this moment, he had actually preferred being hogtied.

"You ready Calvin?" Mark asked, ushering him toward the helpless specimen. Calvin had slowly walked up the Greg and just looked at him with hopeless and regretful eyes. "Calvin, please… he doesn't care about you or Aaron anymore," he heard Greg once again tried to convince him. "He just wants to hurt me," he reasoned again, but saying all this just above a whisper. Hearing all this, it just continued to make him feel guiltier in this situation.

"Here," he then heard Mark say and as he turned to him, he saw a crowbar in his hand being offered to him to take. Calvin grasped the strong metal weapon and held it in his hands and as he felt the power beneath the weapon, it was like déjà vu as he held it in his hands. It brought back a cold memory that was still fresh in his mind, the moment when he had picked up the crowbar while they were back at David's house. For a second he remembered the comment that Greg had made about his brother, when he called Aaron a sadistic fuckin asshole who can burn in hell, but as he looked back over at Greg and saw the somber mix of sorrow and terror in his eyes, it battled the rage within and his hard grip around the crowbar softened.

"What the hell is that for?" Greg shouted in panic as he took to notice the crowbar.

"I told you to shut the fuck up!" Mark screamed back at Greg as he went to make the threat to pull the chain even tighter. Before he could reach the chain though, he heard Calvin snap at him, "Leave him alone, Mark!"

"Are you serious?" Mark asked, surprised that the sympathetic nature still had a hold over Calvin. It was then that he noticed the weak grip that he had on the crowbar and the expression on his face said that he was two seconds from dropping that crowbar and all together leaving the room and giving up on this whole thing. "You're not going to do it?" Mark knowingly asked.

"I can't," Calvin simply answered with a blank stare.

"Bull shit Calvin, you know you can," Mark encouragingly contradicted. "You've been strong throughout this whole thing and you can't give up now!"

"I'm not going to hurt him," he replied, self-doubt still heavily weighing down on his conscience.

"You say that right now, but wait until you take that first swing. I know you feel bad for him but do you think Nick or Grissom did when they put Aaron away. This was happening to him while they were sipping coffee at a fuckin diner, and do you think they gave a second thought about Aaron. You're in control of this situation now and you need to make them feel what you did. Now what you need to do is take that crowbar and embody all the rage within you that you've felt over the years and release all of your aggression against him!"

Calvin took a more firm hold of the crowbar and looked at Greg, thinking if he really could take that first swing and further break the broken boy. Trying to find that inner rage within, he raised the crowbar and went to take a swing, but after making the motion and seeing Greg flinch and helplessly brace himself for the beating, Calvin's conscience took over again and he dropped his arm and felt defeated.

"You're over thinking it man," Mark once again spoke up, calmly trying to persuade Calvin once again, having more than anything wanting to see Calvin make the first hit. "You just have to swing. Go for his leg, the bad one," he suggested.

No longer wanting to feel defeated, Calvin shut off the emotional aspect of his mind and quickly embodied the confidence that Mark held in him and brought his arm back. Taking his first swing at the battered man, Calvin hit Greg just below his left leg and right against the shin bone.

Instantly a scream of utter anguish echoed throughout the small, underground room. Tears painfully stun Greg's eyes as he bellowed out a heart wrenching cry. The pain was that of when he had been shot, but in some tormented way, it was worse.

Once he witnessed Greg's reaction, it had startled him and instantly his sense of sympathy that he tried to shutdown caught right back up with him and he simply couldn't bear to be a part of this brutality. Automatically, he dropped the crowbar to the ground and instantly started to walk away. "I can't, I can't do this!"

"You took one swing!" Mark shouted at him after seeing Calvin freak out over the one beating.

"And look what it did?" Calvin shouted back, feeling absolutely horrible for the pain that he had already caused Greg.

"I know your weak right now Calvin but you need to stay strong, for Aaron," Mark said, trying to play the empathy card while also trying to get Calvin to follow through with the torture.

"Why are you pushing this?" Calvin finally questioned as he was beginning to find it strange that Mark was so strongly pressuring him into hurting Greg.

"I'm pushing this so you don't feel like you have unfinished business. If you give up now, there is no turning back and I know if you give up, it'll be a decision that you'll regret for the rest of your life. Calvin, just try it one more time. The first one is just the shocker; the second swing will be easier."

Falsely convinced by Mark's twisted words, Calvin decided to try to hit Greg one more time. Walking back over to the crowbar, he picked it up off the ground but as he held it and looked at the tortured expression on Greg's face and as he saw how he was suffering, he felt doubt within himself that he could further brutalize him.

Seeing the hesitancy in his friend yet again, Mark took a hold of the crowbar along with Calvin, choosing that if he were to lead him into the action that he would finally get the urge to unleash the assault. Positioning the crowbar right near Greg's abdomen, Mark started to rock the crowbar in a swinging motion and on the third swing - with his full force - he lashed the metal weapon against Greg's bare stomach.

Like before, an ear-shattering scream echoed throughout the room, but the yelling wasn't just coming from Greg. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Calvin full blown screamed at Mark.

"Calm down man, what are you talking about?" Mark asked, genuinely confused by the outburst.

"You want to fuckin kill him!" Calvin shouted back at him. "Look at him, he can't even breathe right now," he explained as he pointed at Greg.

"I'm not trying to kill him," he retorted, but in truth, he knew that was exactly what he wanted to do.

"Bull shit! If that's what you expect me to do to him, there's no fuckin way!"

"Then let me do it," Mark then offered, seeing his opportunity to commit his wrathful revenge.

"You're the reason I'm not doing it! The way you fuckin beat him with that fuckin crowbar, that's inhumane!"

"Like everything you've done to his hasn't been inhumane! Just because now you've grown a conscience doesn't mean that you're a saint in this. May I remind you you're the one in the first place who chose to kidnap him, you're the one who beat him, raped him, hell you cut his fuckin thumbprint off, you left him to suffocate in the trunk of a car, you've almost strangled him to death, and you've shot him! But beating him with a crowbar is too much!"

Before Calvin could respond though, a very weak and frail voice had chimed in and had caught the attention of his kidnappers. "Calvin, since the very beginning, you've been in control and Mark has just been your little puppet that you've been able to control, and it needs to stay that way. I told you, Mark just wants to hurt me to get revenge for me killing his brother, and if you let him do this to me, then you're giving him control in this situation and you don't need to do that. You're the Master in control of this whole situation and you don't need to give that up to anyone. Mark is right though, you need to stay strong for Aaron. Even though he couldn't defend himself, you've been the one to take charge and defend him and you don't need to change that or surrender that power that you have. You know where you stand with defending your brother and you need to listen to what you think is right. If you want to beat me with the crowbar just because that's how your brother died and it's symbolic to you in defending him then go right ahead, as long as it's your decision to do it. Whatever it is that you chose to do, have it be your choice."

Instantly, Calvin knew that he had heard the truth in this situation and knowing the truth, he knew that he didn't have it in him to betray Greg like how he already felt like he had. Hating the feeling of being manipulated by his friend, Calvin knew that he at least owed it to Greg to keep to his word and to release the innocent man. "I'm letting him go," he simply stated as he looked at Mark with a sure and confident expression in his eyes.

Unintentionally, Mark just scuffed and choked back a chuckle when he heard this, feeling it almost humorous to see Calvin cracking the same stale joke that he had been, but when he studied his friend's expression, he unfortunately knew that this wasn't a joke. His laughter turned sour as his face became hard and he questioned his friend with an angry and skeptical tone. "You can't be serious?"

"I said that I was going to let him go so that's what I'm going to do," Calvin merely offered as an explanation that was enough to suffice for him. Without hesitancy, he then went to release Greg from his brutal restrains like he had before. Before he could even reach the chain though, he felt a hand wrap around his arm and yank him back away from Greg. "Mark, what the hell!" he shouted, startled by the sudden jerk, though he became more startled by the item that was now occupying Mark's hand.

"Well, you're saying that you told him that you told him that you would release him, well I told him that I wouldn't allow that," Mark firmly contradicted as he removed a gun from his waist band and firmly held it, not threateningly but at least making the point that he was the one who was in control.

"What the hell are you doing?" Calvin cautiously asked.

"I should ask you the same thing! You're the one changing the plans. Just because you can't finish it doesn't mean that I'm not going to."

"Mark, there is no point anymore!" he tried to both reason and contradict.

"There may not be a point for you anymore but I sure as hell have my reasons. I'm not leaving here today with that piece of shit not wishing that he was dead."

"You really just cared about yourself," Calvin stated with a bitter expression in his eyes as he came to realize that Greg was right. The only reason that Mark had been pushing him to finish what he had started was because he just wanted to get his revenge against Greg and he was just using him to insure that happened.

"Don't even start with that," Mark then huffed in disappointment, knowing exactly what Calvin meant by that. "Who's the person that's been there for you since the beginning? Me! From the moment Aaron was put in prison, I've been there for both of you with his trials and then after he died, I was the one you came to asking for help with this insane revenge plot. But because I was your friend and I understood what you were going through, I decided to put my ass on the line and I became an accomplice to kidnapping a fuckin CSI. Now when I need your help, you don't want to help me!"

"It's the right thing to just move on though," Calvin sanely reasoned.

"Didn't I say that do you back when you came up with this idea? I tried to talk you out of it but your mind was set. I guess the roles are reversed now, only you're being the selfish friend."

"Mark, just put the gun down and let's go upstairs and talk about this."

"No, I'm not putting the gun down. In fact, I'm the one with the gun, so I get to make the fuckin rules. So here's what's going to happen. I'm gonna do what I plan to do to that piece of shit that killed my brother, and you can watch if you want, but I have a feeling that you're not going to want to. So you can go upstairs. If you don't go upstairs and if you try to help him, I'll kill him. The end result of this whole thing that you want is that we keep Greg alive so that we can give Nick and everyone else a fair chance to find him. I'll honor that, but if you choose to be the hero and try to save him, I won't give Nick the chance to save him and then all of this will have been for absolutely nothing."

Once again, Calvin felt torn between his two predicaments, both of them ended negatively though, it was just the matter of whether or not he would want to watch it or not. As Calvin looked at his deranged friend, he could tell by his stern expression that he was dead serious with the options that he had presented. Then, he looked at Greg. There was a very sorrow and desperate expression in his eyes that practically begged him not to leave him alone as he was forced to suffer through Mark's brutality. Unfortunately though, he couldn't bring himself to the idea of witnessing Mark's wrath but also not be able to do anything to stop it. With a guilty heart, Calvin regretfully turned away from Greg and without saying another word, he left the basement.

After Calvin had left the basement, Mark had then walked over to where Calvin had dropped the crowbar and picked it up. Mimicking the familiar gesture in the movies and the taunting way that it's portrayed, Mark started to raise the crowbar from out of his hand and then smacked the heavy metal dead center in his palm and he kept doing this as he started to circle Greg. "Well, I guess it's time for the fun to begin," Mark cooed with a very disturbing smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then without skipping a beat, he brought back his arm and made the first bone crippling hit of the many to come.

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Well, I suppose that there is no real guess as to what's coming next for Greg. I personally think that the next chapter really shows the true depths of my inner sadism. Like seriously guys, I am one merciless bitch!

Anyways, as always, thank you to Chlomaine101 and NerdyLizzie who put an alert on chapter updates for TPMG.

For adding TPMG to their favorite stories list, thank you to Silverfox893.

And for reviewing, thank you to C.H.W.13, 9Laura8, GreggoGeek22, Tracy79, and The Unknown. It's always the uplifting words of encouragement that I really find the most inspiration from.

Also, good news, because I already have a fantastic start on chapter 34 and for some reason I really want to post a chapter on my birthday, you guys can expect a new chapter on Thursday, April 11th. I figured that from keeping everyone waiting for chapter updates for so long, I could spoil you guys with two chapter updates in a week :)!

Other than that, I will be back on Thursday :)!


	34. A Crippling Blow

Hi everyone… so I know you guys are a tad bit upset with me for not posting chapter 34 on Thursday like I said that I was going to, but for one, it was my birthday and my friends had a surprise party for me and I've never had a surprise party before so it was pretty awesome. So I got a bit distracted from writing due to that.

Another issue that I faced when it actually came to the writing portion was that an unexpected play of events in chapter 34 presented its self and I wanted to get all my thoughts in order and in line before I pursued this idea further. I had a small scene in the back of my mind that I wanted to try to play out but I couldn't figure out where to put it so I just kinda set it aside and worked around it. Well, I figured out how to use it and I really just wanted to make sure that it worked out perfectly. So the wait was a combination of that an my birthday, and I know it's an excuse but I have one final thing that I want to say regarding the late post.

I really am sorry about promising to post a new chapter one day and then posting it four days later. It's easy to say that you'll get a chapter posted one day, but then you have to account in the work that goes into writing a chapter. Those of you readers who are also writers understand the work that goes into writing a chapter can understand that the idea of writing a chapter is a lot easier then the work itself. Sometimes your mind just doesn't cooperate with what you want to write and then you just can't get anything done. Every writer's process is different, but there is just one thing that I want to say. I've busted my ass on this story and I have not been willing to settle to put out a mediocre chapter. I would much rather apologize for posting a chapter a few days later then I said I was going to than to apologize for posting a chapter that I was not proud or satisfied with. A response that I have gotten in many reviews is "Totally worth the wait", and although I know the wait sucks balls, I figure that it's worth the wait because I'm taking the time to put my best effort forward into writing you guys a great chapter.

Once again, I really do apologize for the wait but more than anything, I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint. Other than that, please enjoy this chapter and alerts, favorites and reviews are always appreciated.

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**Chapter 34: A Crippling Blow**

When it came to torture, this moment became the definition of the harsh and unforgiving act, and there was nothing that Greg could do to escape from it.

The first hit was the worst. Mercilessly the attack began at his hip and unfortunately it was the hip of his good leg. The pain shot through his entire leg and had swarm into his gut which had made his stomach turn and made him feel like he was about to throw up. With the weight that he was also putting on his right leg, the strain on those muscles quickly grew weak and began to tremble beneath his skin. If it weren't for his wrists begin bound and secured in the way that they were, his knee would have already buckled in by now. It was then that the pain in his hip had just begun to subside, but that quickly vanished when Mark took the next swing against his battered body.

The second hit was the worst. The attack was made against the left side of his torso. Automatically, his body jerked in reaction and he almost lost his balance because of it. Feeling absolutely embarrassed of having to hobble around on his one leg to maintain his balance was a painful effort on his body. Every time he would make that small jump, he could feel the pull against his wrists, arms, and shoulder blades and he felt as if he was just one jump away from ripping them off. Then like before, another hit was issued, further distracting him from his former pain and bringing forth a new sensation of it that persistently felt that much worse.

The third hit was the worst. The sensation he felt could have been compared to a butcher's knife being stabbed at the top of his spine and then sliced and split open to the very bottom. The agony from this beating against his back was absolutely horrendous and he felt like it was going to be one of those crippling hits. Desperately, he was trying to hold back both his tears and his cries of pain so not to give Mark anymore of a sick satisfaction, but by now, he knew there was no point in holding back. It was then that he let out his first desperate scream of aguish but the level of screaming doubled once he felt that fuckin crowbar connect with his body once again.

It was either the fourth or the fifth hit, but that didn't matter, it was the worst. Feeling that the first swing that Calvin issued didn't do his suffering justice, Mark was sure to correct that. Taking that crowbar with a relentless force, he beat it against his leg again in the same spot Calvin had in it felt like his is entire leg was on fire. Let alone, the beating against the shin bone was painful enough as it was, but then having that paired with the irritated nerves from the lead bullet in his mutilated knee is what really did him in for that unbearable sensation of agonizing pain.

It was then that he wasn't even aware of what was going on anymore. Trying to reach for his leg to simply hold it due to some far-fetched though that by doing that he would be able to ease the pain, he unconsciously tugged against his painfully restrained arms and was then reminded of the unbearably tight metal clasps digging into his skin and securely holding his wrists. As he jerked against the cuffs though, it had disrupted his focus on his balance and he once again began to hobble around on it like an idiot. Everything that he was feeling, he just wanted it to end. But had he known it, Mark wasn't even close to being done.

Whatever swing of crowbar after that was all a combined blur to him. Mentally, he just didn't have the capacity to keep count of his beatings and at the same time experience them. It simply was a near impossible feat to accomplish. The pain was all turning into one large crippling blow after the other that he ultimately felt through his entire body. It was an understatement to feel as if he was in a futile battle against everything. Mark's ruthless aggression had caused his body to feel as if every single muscle was a mere second away from giving in. Desperately he wanted it to end and he found it to be an absolute miracle that he was still standing on his one leg, though barely. There was one powerful sense of motivation that made him keep that balance though and that was the fact that even the slightest stumble could result in a dislocated shoulder which was the last thing that he wanted to have to endure.

"Have you had enough yet Greggo?" he had then heard a hollow voice taunting, but the question had gone in one ear and right out the other. The question wasn't anything that he could focus on answering while he was already facing head-on a relentless battle physically and mentally it was taking its toll on everything that he felt he could handle.

That empty voice had made its appearance again, but this time not so subtly. "What did I say about ignoring me?" Mark yelled with a voice of thunder as he swung that fuckin crowbar mercilessly against his wrists.

By far, this was the worst pain that he had experienced; could have easily been compared to being shot. The effort and unyielding strength that went behind that hit could have been compared to an over-excited kid at a birthday party that was hyped up on sugar, and then a bat was given to that kid and he was told to go and hit and break his piñata. That was all he felt like at this moment, like a fuckin piñata. Swinging that crowbar and beating him with it, it was an action of fun for Mark, getting to watch him suffer and break at his coldblooded hands.

Aside from the mental comparison of how he felt like a birthday party's punching bag, his mind was so over-clouded by the swarming pain that had engulfed his wrist. It was a tough conclusion to draw, but Greg couldn't put it past him that he thought that Mark had broken his right wrist. A dull throb surrounded his entire wrist and it pulsated against his tightly clasped and suffocated wrist without any signs of subsiding. Trying to lessen the pressure on that limb, he tried to maintain his balance on solely his left wrist and his right leg. He thought that this could maybe help out his balance by evening out the pressure placed on each limb, but this was quickly disproven. It was quickly turning into an absolute struggle to maintain his balance and for the first time in a long time, Greg just wanted to give up.

Everything that he was feeling anymore was just too overwhelming and he desperately wanted a reprieve from it all. Giving in to all he was feeling, feeling that there was nothing that he could do, he submitted to his sense of absolute vulnerability and releasing everything, he began to cry. "Please…" Greg firstly choked out. "I can't… I can't do this," he tried to reason with the demon that was blacker than the one Calvin had possessed.

"So you want down?" Mark quizzically asked, tauntingly of course, but just wanting to mess and tease his broken victim that much more.

"Yes," he gasped out as he frantically shook his head. "Please," he begged once again, feeling it to be pathetic and demeaning having to beg, but at this moment, dignity was over-rated as all he wanted was relief from the pain.

Mark didn't say anything for a moment and just enjoyed the sound of his struggled and strained breathing that echoed throughout the silent, underground room. Taking a stance in front of Greg, he had taken the crowbar and had gracefully risen in up and placed it under Greg's chin and forced the hopeless, broken disaster that was hanging by shackled limbs to look up at him as he asked him one very defining question. With a haunting stare that would even petrify the devil, he asked "Why should I let you go?"

The demented thing standing before him, Greg knew that he wasn't looking at Mark anymore. The demon had exposed its most inner depths of inhumanity and he unfortunately knew that there wasn't a single point to reason with someone who was so blinded by revenge. Desperately, he wanted the beatings to end, but he knew that it would only end once Mark was satisfied.

"Ignoring me again?" Mark asked as he brought upon another full-forced swing to his gut. Greg instantly wanted to double-over feeling that it would ease the pain, but not being able to do that and being forced to confront the pain head on, it was too much for him to handle. "-ark… pl-ease," he tried to get out, but that hit to his stomach had really taken everything out of him. A dark haze started to circle around his vision and his head started to feel heavy and he knew that he was about ready to pass out.

"Don't you dare think about passing out," Mark snapped as he roughly started to smack the side of Greg's face so to bring him back into the moment. "You don't get the reprieve of sleep, not yet anyways."

Greg started to stir and tried to bring his mind back into the moment. He knew that now was not the time to fall into that blissful sense of sleep that called to him as if he were to pass out now, he knew he would run a risk of hurting his wrist that he thought was broken or even worse, dislocate his shoulder. Bringing his mind back to being fully aware, he once again looked to Mark and although he knew that he wasn't going to do anything, it was still something that he wanted to say. "I'm sorry, I really am."

"Well I'm not. You killed my brother! Calvin may be more forgiving, but not me," Mark coldly stated with a very unsettling glare fixed on him.

"I didn't do anything to him Mark, his issue was with Monica," Greg logically reasoned, fully understanding why Calvin would want to let him go, he was just hoping that Mark would appeal to the same sense that Calvin did.

"You're right," Mark firstly stated. "But I have an issue with you. Monica was responsible for Aaron's dead, and you were the one who pulled the trigger and killed my brother in cold blood. I'm sure you can understand my reasoning for wanting to torture you within an inch of your life."

"I DID NOT KILL HIM IN COLD BLOOD!" Greg screamed back, having Mark's heartless word choice strike a nerve with him. "IT WAS DEFENSE!"

"Well, now I'm defending my brother," Mark emotionlessly stated as he put a clever play on Greg's words. After that, silently he scrutinized Greg's body and for a good while too before he had finally moved. Taking a firm hold of the crowbar again, he started to trace its curved edge slowly along Greg's body. "What are you doing?" he heard Greg nervously ask, but he chose to ignore the question, wanting his victim to stir with discerning uncertainty.

The crowbar had then made its way down to his leg, first his wounded one as it cautiously traced around his knee, but the crowbar had then made its way over to his right leg. It was here that the movements became slower, as if more calculated. The rounded edge glided down the length of his leg, with the pressure increasing around his shin bone and then it had made its way back up, but this time the back side of his leg and it had unexpectedly stopped once it had reached the backside of his knee.

Uncertainty was swarming throughout his brain, but he started to piece one very unsettling thought once the crowbar had stopped where it had. "Mark?" he hesitantly questioned as he tried to look at the monster to see if he was thinking that same thing that he was. The look he received back raised the utmost sense of concern within him as he knew what Mark was thinking, especially when he gently patted the flat side roughly against the back of his knee forcing his muscle to subtly jerk and tremble in reaction. "Please… don't," he begged, fearing the absolute worst.

"You know what I'm going to do, don't you?" Mark cooed with a playfully evil grin as he continued to pat the backside of his knee with the crowbar, having the force become slowly but persistently harder.

"Please… I'm begging you," Greg sobbed out as he tried to distance his leg from the crowbar, but with nowhere to go, he could only painfully anticipate the moment when Mark would lay that forceful swing against the backside of his knee.

"I'm sure you've had your regrets and your second thoughts with everything that you've done while being forced to partake in our little kidnapping, but of every decision you've made, what's been the one that you've regretted the most?" Mark asked, wanting one specific answer from Greg of course.

The question was random and a rather absurd thing to ask at this moment, but it still was a question that had left him considering what his biggest moment of regret was? Of course killing David was pretty close to the top, but there was also the notion of getting the hell out of David's house the second that he had escaped from the chair and there was a brief moment he had wished he had done that instead of calling Nick. Another moment of regret was when he was in the basement and Nick and Catherine were in Calvin's home. He wished that he had gotten their attention as there could have been the chance to avoid all of this. But once he thought about way to avoid this whole kidnapping ordeal, he began to look back at the very beginning. He went back to the root of the problem. He went back five years ago.

"I regret not trying my absolute hardest to convince everyone that I thought Aaron was innocent," Greg humbly answered with every honest eyes filled with an absolute sense of regret.

"What?" Mark asked skeptically. "You thought Aaron was innocent?" he asked again, still unable to believe what he was hearing. "Why did you think he was innocent?"

Greg tried to shrug his shoulders in response of Mark's question, as truthfully he didn't know why he believed Aaron was innocent. Something in his gut just refused to believe that the evidence that was presented was to convict Aaron of such a harsh crime. Maybe it was some foreshadowing force from the future that told him to believe Aaron for the sake of avoiding all this symbolic kidnapping shit, but whatever it was, he wished that he had pushed it more. "I can't explain why, I just couldn't believe that he was guilty."

"And you didn't try to save him," Mark asked, almost angry to hear that Greg didn't try to save Aaron.

"I did," Greg contradicted. "I just wished I tried harder," he confessed as he dropped his head in regret, thinking back to that first major case of his where he was in the field.

"Does Calvin know?" wondering if his friend knew that his supposed innocent victim was really one of the main causes of Aaron's demise.

"I don't know?" Greg honestly answered.

"Well I think he deserves to," Mark hastily replied as he turned around to leave the basement.

Hearing this, Greg just simply froze. Knowing where Calvin stood with him and his emotions, it was comforting to know what he didn't have to worry about Calvin in this situation anymore and that he only had to tackle one monster, but knowing how Mark had a knack for twisting his words around, there was no telling how his former abuser was going to react to what Mark was about to tell him. It was then that he heard the definite sound of two pairs of footsteps storming their way into the basement.

"You knew Aaron was innocent!" Calvin shouted back at Greg as he stormed over toward him.

"Calvin please, I can explain!" Greg quickly shouted as he desperately tried to avoid the returning wrath of Calvin Richards.

"You have 60 seconds," he blatantly said as he looked at Greg with eyes of death, waiting for an explanation.

At first, Greg got choked up, not having the slightest clue on where to begin, but once he started trying to explain himself, there was no stopping himself. "You know, I didn't know for a fact that Aaron was innocent okay, I just processed the evidence and I saw how the evidence supported Aaron's side of the story. I don't know what it was okay I just didn't believe that Aaron was guilty. I just couldn't bring myself to believe Monica. And you know I did try to convince Grissom and Nick otherwise but they wouldn't listen to me. Hell Nick made me feel like an idiot for believing our "suspect" and after that, it was pretty much a rookie's word against as supervisors and a trained level 3 CSI. And Aaron's case, I was just an observer, it wasn't even my proficiency exam yet so my word didn't mean shit! Whatever I had to say after that, it didn't mean a damn thing. I was just the idiotic wannabe CSI who questioned the victim and believed the suspect."

"You said that you regret not trying harder to prove Aaron's innocence though," Mark reminded Greg, reiterating his earlier words that had raised the initial concern in this discussion.

"It was just a feeling I had!" Greg contradicted. "Following your intuition over evidence is a concept as rare to Gil Grissom as a virgin hooker on the strip is. The evidence supported both Monica's statement and Aaron's, but because Monica was the "victim" in this situation, no one even considered for a second if Aaron was innocent. I can't tell you exactly why I believed Aaron over Monica, all I can say is that I tried to convince Grissom and Nick that he was possibly innocent, but they wouldn't hear my two cents. Do I wish that I tried harder? Hell yes, I could've saved Aaron, but there was no use in convincing them. They had shut out every word I had to say from there on out so it was just completely useless."

Still, even after his explanation, a look of doubt was still across Calvin's face. "You tried to save my brother?" he then boldly asked, getting right to the point.

"I swear to God, Calvin," he whole-heartedly answered.

Calvin was silent for a moment, taking a second to process all that Greg had told him and he ultimately came to one very strong and one very unfortunately, discerning conclusion. "I believe you," he firstly said with a content gleam in his eyes. "You know, I was thinking about calling Nick and Catherine and I was thinking about telling them where you are. There was something in me that wouldn't allow that though, and like you, I don't know what it was, but it was just this feeling within that wouldn't allow me to do that. With hearing this though, I've now realized something. You don't deserve this, any of this, but Mark was right. Nick and Grissom, they do deserve this. It's their fault for not believing you and they need to suffer the consequences, unfortunately they need to suffer the consequences at your expense. You really are the innocent in this, and that unfortunately is exactly why this needs to happen to you. I'm sorry Greg, I really am, but I need to finish this, and that's what I realized. I hope for your sake that Nick and Catherine, just whoever, I hope they find you. You don't deserve to suffer anymore," he very humbly confessed and explained.

Hearing all this, every sentence, every word, every syllable, it cut through his heart like a thousand knives. The man who he thought was his ally had turned on him, though in an ironically noble way. Still, the fact remained that he was going to have to suffer the final threshold at Mark's vengeful hand. As Calvin left the basement, never had he felt more alone. Countless times, he had been abandoned and then reintroduced to hope, but this was the defining moment of isolation. He had absolutely no one. A complete inability to care anymore, he looked to Mark and with an empty heart and tear stained eyes, he merely said, "Just do it."

Mark leisurely walked over to where Greg was, but unexpectedly to him, there was then a substantial decrease in tension on his shoulder blades. As he turned to his side, he could see Mark lowering the chain that secured his arms in that painful position and he had lowered them at least a foot from where they were held. The pressure release felt like ecstasy but the fact that they were still raised, it didn't comfort Greg. "What are you doing?" Greg asked confused by what Mark's actions. Silence filled the room again, but for no more than five seconds, to which Mark finally replied with a single word. "This," and with that issued the most bludgeoning of all strikes against his body with that crowbar to the back of his right knee.

With his knee having been forced to buckle under him, there was nothing that Greg could do. As expected, he was sent falling to the ground on his knees, but his knees never touched the floor as his wrists agonizingly held his weight and had forced upon him, a dislocated shoulder. A bellowing scream of pure agony filled the small room and reverberated off the walls, defining and dominating the atmosphere of the torture chamber beneath the earth. Torture practically seemed like a loosely used phrase anymore; the merciless motives of a man controlled by a black heart filled with sadistic wrath seemed more fitting. Greg allowed that cry of anguish to carry out until no other sound could leave his throat. Knowing that his vocal cords had officially been destroyed to a shredded disaster, he realized that his voice was no more. In his mind, his voice was still screaming and shouting with all his might though as he desperately wanted to be released from this relentlessly torturous restraint.

As he watched the pathetic man struggling against his own will to bear this sadistic torture method, Mark just stood there watching in awe and fascination, completely taken with amusement. The display of the action was nothing short of remarkable. After watching the mess fumble around and try to gain his footing so to ease the tension on his distorted shoulder and continually give up or fail, Mark had realized that it was now time to release him. Leisurely, he walked over to his side and went to remove the taunt chain from the hook it was secured to, but before he did that, he wanted to fully observe Greg. With a deft hand, he gently placed it on his right shoulder, the one that was dislocated. Steadily, he allowed his fingers to trace over the disfigured bone and study the flesh. Hearing shallow cries coming from Greg though, it had distracted him and he returned to releasing the poor son-of-a-bitch. Pulling on the chain just enough so he could release him, he undid the chain from the hook and then let go, sending the officially broken man to the ground.

When he had hit the ground, surprisingly enough, Greg hadn't moved a single inch. The pain that came with falling to the ground, it was something that he had welcomed as it wasn't anywhere near as agonizing as it was to be hanging by a dislocated limb. The cold floor was comforting as it didn't require anything of him physically. All he had to do and all it wanted to do was lie there and remain lifeless and numb. Unfortunately though, this wasn't the plan that Mark had.

Greg couldn't see anything in the position that he was lying in, but he knew that Mark had taken a seat right next to him. There was then a rough jerk as his hands were pulled off to the side and Greg couldn't help but shed a tear at the discomforting tug against his shoulder. There was then a tight pinch that encircled his wrists and he didn't exactly know what caused it, but he figured that it could have been Mark tightening the cuffs. Regardless of what it was though, it was so tight to a point where he could barely move his hands from such lack of proper circulation. He could then hear a small hissing sound and he then felt an uncomfortably warm sensation by his hand. Greg had then remembered the blow torch that fell out of Mark's duffle bag earlier and figured that that was the source of heat, but what it was being used for, he had no idea.

"Just because Nicky is going to have a chance to save you doesn't mean that I'm going to make the rescue easy for him," Mark coldly added as he finished off melting and destroying the key hole on the handcuffs making the removal of them almost impossible. Grabbing hold of the role of tape that was just at his side, he had unceremoniously rolled Greg so that he was lying on his back and with grabby hands, forced his legs together. Taking the tape, he then began to bind his ankles together with a sticky adhesive and followed with also binding his thighs together, firmly restricting all leg movements.

The next step was the gag which Mark began with placing four single strips of duct tape across Greg's mouth. After that, he then proceeded to wrap the roll of tape around his head effectively sealing his mouth with the adhesive. Once the tape had been wrapped around a solid eight times, Mark finally felt pleased enough with the gag knowing that there wasn't a chance that Greg was going to be able to remove it.

With every method of further restraining him, it had just sunken Greg's soul further and further into a black abyss. After the physical torment that he had just endured, the pain was enough of a physical restraint for him that it felt like the tape was just unnecessary. Still, Mark felt that it was needed apparently which just made Greg feel more and more helpless in the situation. It was also humiliating. Not the bondage to much – he hated to admit that it was something he felt he had grown accustom to after being bound so frequently – but the inability to resist it is what he found embarrassing. Hopelessly, he just allowed Mark to bind his legs and he didn't even thrash his head around when he was wrapping the tape around his mouth. All in all, he just felt pathetic. Looking back at the first moment when he had been kidnapped, how he constantly fought and resisted Calvin and Mark to now uselessly submitting to them. He had come a long way from the moment that he had been first kidnapped, but he didn't know if he had come a long way for the better.

"Do you know what's on the other side of that door?" he had then heard Mark ask as he pointed to the unknown door that was just a few feet away from them. "You want to find out?" he asked with a playful tease in his voice as he walked over to the door. Turning the knob, he opened it to show off what looked to be a very small closet. "I think you'll fit in it just nicely."

A look of terror took over Greg's eyes. Never had he really been fazed by the fear of claustrophobia, but the idea of being put into that small closet was rather unsettling. As Mark stalked toward him and lifted him up off the ground, he was roughly dragged over toward the closet and was unceremoniously shoved into it. This was where the difficult part began though. Despite the minimal movement that his legs had while being bound and also being maneuvered into such a small space, there was really only one position that he could sit in and it was the position that Mark was roughly forcing him into. With his legs tucked under him like before, he was forced to sit on his legs and with his legs being so tightly bound together, he was also forced to put weight on his busted leg which was rather excruciating.

All the while this was happening Greg desperately wanted to fight back. As he was put in the closet, it all of a sudden started to feel extremely tight and tremendously small. There wasn't a single moment where he put past the thought that he was going to be locked in this closet and coming to that conclusion, it made his want to resist that much stronger. Had Mark known it, he tried to put up a fight. He tried to move his legs and thrash his body, but every subtle movement was that of utter pain that he simply couldn't put forth a full effort. Feeling as if he was failing himself, he couldn't help but cry as Mark continued to trap him inside of the closet.

The next step Greg had found to be the most disturbing and the most terrifying. Mark still hadn't removed the chain that was connected to the handcuffs and he had now noticed that he was reaching for the blow torch again as well as a padlock. First taking the padlock in one hand and the end of the chain in the other, Mark threw the chain over a bar that Greg noticed ran across the length of the ceiling in the closet. For once being mindful of his injuries, Mark slowly began to raise Greg's arms behind his back once again but was very cautious of his dislocated shoulder. When his hands were raised a solid three feet from the ground, he had then locked the padlock through two chain links so that it was secured around the metal bar.

It was unsettling to Greg to know that now he was already firmly secured in the closet without a way of escaping it, but to make matters that much worse, Mark decided to insure that no matter what, he 100% would not be able to leave this closet. Taking the blow torch, he had then begun to fuse the chain around the metal bar to the metal bar, creating one solid metal bind and firmly securing Greg in the closet. He had then felt Mark pull on the length of the chain that was connected to his wrists and there wasn't a single inch of slack nor could he even budge the chain.

Feeling satisfied with the results of fusing the two metals together, Mark had then decided to cut away the spare length of chain and to remove the padlock not wanting to waste the recourses. Grabbing the padlock key and a heavy duty pair of pliers Mark had then firstly removed the padlock and had then cut away the remaining length of dangling chain. Immediately taking to use these two items, he had then wrapped the chain above Greg's elbows and securely fastened them together with the padlock.

"I think you understand that we can't having you try to escape now can we," Mark heartlessly teased his utterly helpless victim.

It felt like an absolute understatement to say that he was trapped. Escape was literally impossible for him. Escaping wasn't something that he could even consider even for a second while in the predicament that he was in. It would be nothing more than a wasted thought. Greg tried to shift around in the position that he was in, but feeling the pressure against his leg as well as the pull on his dislocated shoulder, he ceased all further movements. Crying was something that was over-rated now and an understatement to describe the anguish that he was suffering through. Uncontrollable sobbing would better describe his hopeless emotional release.

"So you know that sandwich and bottle of water that Calvin gave you, well you can look at it as he just gave you an extra day of life. Scientifically I would say that you have at most three days to live while being down here so you better hope to God that Nick gets a fuckin clue and finds you or else you're done for," Mark casually explained as if he was presenting a business plan to a group of employees. "And one last thing, before I forget," he added as he picked up a small roll of black electrical tape. Ripping the stretchy tape from its roll, he placed the sticky adhesive to Greg's eyes and began to - like the duct tape - wrap it around Greg's head, effectively blinding the poor man.

Once finished with the roll, Mark merely tossed it back into the duffle bag on the floor and picked up two heavy duty padlocks and then walked back over to Greg. "Well Sanders, it's been fun, but it's time for me to say so long, farewell, and good luck to you. Try not to have too many panic attacks as come on, you're being abandoned, bound in a basement closet with a soon to be rotting corpse only a few feet away from you. You're bound to have at least one. Other than that though, there's nothing more to say. Any final words?" he asked, finishing off his final words of sadistic mockery. Hearing absolutely nothing though, Mark merely slammed the door shut and immediately went to attach the two heavy duty padlocks into the proper slots to lock the door and after simply turned around and left. Leaving the basement as well, he applied two additional padlocks to the shed door as well before he finally walked into the house and started to discuss the final step with Calvin.

Everything around him was unnervingly still and the quiet surrounding him was already taking its toll on his psyche. A very strong and heavy heartbeat swarmed throughout his body, but the moment couldn't have felt more unreal. Refusing to believe that he was in the situation that he was in, he began to pull against his limbs but feeling the pain attacked his every muscle, he quickly stopped. Realizing that he couldn't move that undeniable sense of claustrophobia finally began to set it, and the fact that he couldn't see anything really added to that tight, constrained feeling too. Frantically he began to sweat as he felt his first panic attack coming on and breathing was becoming harder to do as he started to hyperventilate. All at once, he lost complete control of everything that he was feeling and he couldn't escape it and overwhelmed by everything attacking him all at once without any hope of escaping it, Greg finally broke down. As he dropped his head, he surrendered everything that he was feeling and finally gave into the horrific feeling of literally being utterly alone and abandoned.

* * *

Alright, so I know I talked about this torture scene for a while, but what did you guys think of it? I know there isn't really a gore factor, but there is a reason for that which will be explained.

Now to my thanks…

Thank you to Shazuki for adding TPMG to your alert list.

And thank you to GreggoGeek22, C.H.W.13, Chlomaine101, 9Laura8, Tracy79, The Unknown, Guest, and Huge Fan for reviewing. It's always exciting to check your story and see a new review.

So, that's all for now. Next chapter, we'll be reintroduced to Greg's real allies, but I can still promise that there will be a little bit of Greg in there too as I know how you all love your Greg angst… I'm as guilty of a fan ha ha :D! Anyways… so long and farewell… till the next chapter of course… As I've said, I would never abandon you guys or this story :D!


	35. The Puppet Master's Game Authors Note

HELLO TO EVERY STILL COMMITTED READER OF THE PUPPET MASTER'S GAME!

So yes, I am aware that it has been over a year since I have updated this story and I know that the only reviews I get anymore are those that say, "Have you abandoned this story? " or "When are you going to update?" I am here, 16 months later to give some form of closure to all of you… I am currently done with this fanfic… BECAUSE, I will be posting a REMASTERED version of The Puppet Master's Game as a second story!

Now, I know that doesn't sound very thrilling to you guys because you have all been waiting for the continuation of what has currently been written, but I was having the most difficult time with writing chapter 35 and that was because I had all these ideas in my head but due to past events, I couldn't use them. I tried to work around them by making small changes to past chapters, but as I made these few small changes, more ideas came and these small changes turned into paragraph rewrites and then eventually, I decided I wanted to rewrite the whole chapter! And that's exactly what I have done!

It's mostly the first few chapters that have the most dramatic rewrite as there were a lot of things that I would skim over or all in all just skip the chapter. When I complete this story, I want the entire product to be something I can show off and be proud off and I always found myself trying to justify my early chapters by saying that the later ones are better. I figured though, if you can't hook a reader at the beginning, then you can't expect them to make it to the ending. And I know you guys are going to enjoy the rewrite as well.

I want to post this "remastered" version, as I'm calling it, because I don't want to remove my original piece of work. I want readers to be able to see the changes and transition this story has made as well as I want to have something to compare it to, whether it's for better or for worse. Also, with the rewrite, I have removed some scenes that I think you as readers will miss, and I missed being able to write them, and I want you guys to still be able to enjoy those scenes for what they originally were. Although, I will say, even though some scenes are missing, I've done my best to replace them and I think the result is significantly better. The current, rewritten result is much more mature and thought out and I think you'll all enjoy it.

So now you know what I have been up to these past 16 months, aside from my normal day to day life, but I can assure you The Puppet Master's Game is still alive and well and becoming stronger with ever rewritten chapter. My question to you is: Do you want me to post the first 7 chapters that I have rewritten now and post the others as they come, or do you want me to post every chapter (including chapters 35 – 40) all at once. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write a review, or a PM letting me know what you want me to do! In a week from today, you'll either have a second Authors Note with a sneak peak at the remasters version of TPMG, to you will have the remastered chapter itself. BUT YOU HAVE TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO!

Finally though, I want to apologize to all my readers. I know I've kept you all waiting so long to even offer an explanation as to what is going on and on top of that, that I've kept you all waiting for the next chapter , and also that you guys wait now that much longer for an ending to this story. But I can guarantee you, there is an ending to this story that you won't be able to predict nor will it disappoint! It's much more impactful and malicious!

And finally, I have said it once, and I will say it again, and I think you all know what it is…

I will NEVER, EVER, abandon this story!


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